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Wabaunsee County Directory and History 

Wabaunsee County 
Independent Telephone Co. 



This is the new telephone company which has lately bought 
out the Wabaunsee Telephone Company. The telephone system 
in Wabaunsee County began operations June 25th, 1898, with 
twelve subscribers under the management of the McMahan Tele- 
phone Exchange. The lines soon extended to the neighboring 
towns and by 1900 Topeka was reached. In 1902 there were 
110 'phones in Alma, 70 in Eskridge, and 41 on the rural lines. 
In 1903 the McMahan Telephone Company was succeeded by 
the Wabaunsee County Telephone Company. Since that time the 
system has been greatly extended. At present there are five 
central offices — Alma, Altavista, Eskridge, McFarland, and 
Maple Hill, employing ten operators. Toll lines from Topeka 
to Dwight; also St. Marys, Rossville, Harveyville, and Allen 
have connections with the Paxico, Keene, and Harveyville Mu- 
tual and all Mutual exchanges in Morris County, Manhattan and 
Burlingame; also with all Independent Companies' lines running 
into three adjoining counties, Shawnee, Pottawatomie and 
Morris. 

There are about eighty-four miles of pole lines, seventy miles 
of city wire, and two hundred and fifty-five miles of rural 
toll lines. The total number of telephones in use exceed 525, 
of which 275 are in and about Alma. Four men are regularly 
employed keeping the lines in order. 

The improvements being made at present are the installment 
of new switch-boards at Alma and McFarland and the building 
of new rural lines. 

The stockholders of the present company are: C. B. Hender- 
son, Alma; J. R. Henderson, Alma; J. Y. Waugh, Eskridge; 
M. F. Trivett, Eskridge; B. R. Henderson, Eskridge-; J. N. 
Dolley, Maple Hill. 

The officers are: C. B. Henderson, President; J. N. Dolley, 
Vice-President; J. R. Henderson, Secretary and Treasurer. 

The company is capitalized on $50,000. 



Business Directory 



AND 



History 



OF 



Wabaunsee County 



PUBLISHED BY 



'Ihe Kansas Directory Company 



OF 



Topeka, Kansas 

1907 



K 






Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



^tisl3lisSies'^s ^m^o^^hc®im.<aEht 



In presenting the Business Directory and Official History of 
Wabaunsee County, we believe we have the most valuable ref- 
erence book ever gotten up for any county in Kansas, and desire 
to make due acknowledgement to the enterprising and public- 
spirited business men of the county for their assistance and 
cooperation. Otherwise it would not have been possible to have 
•gotten out so valuable a publication and make a success with 
this our first county directory. 

The Kansas Directory Company has published several di- 
rectories, notably the Kansas Produce Directory and the Kansas 
"Real Estate Directory, and this book is the first attempt at a 
"County Directory, and the publishers are encouraged to make a 
special feature of this line of work in Kansas. 

The publishers take great pleasure in acknowledging the effi- 
cient and enthusiastic services of our special literary writers, 
Mrs. Mary Emma Montgomery and Miss Elizabeth N. Barr of 
Topeka. Of Mrs. Montgomery, Hon. Geo. W. Martin, Secretary 
of the State Historical Society, says: 

"Mrs. Mary Emma Montgomery is a native of Ohio and came 
to Hays City, Kansas in 1877 with her father J. B. Milner. In 
1879 she married Frank C. Montgomery, editor of the Hays 
City Sentinel. She has made her home in Kansas ever since, 
excepting for four years in the early eighties, when she was in 
Tacoma and Seattle, Washington Territory, where her husband 
edited newspapers. She was educated in the Alliance, Ohio, 
high school. She is the mother of three sons, Franklin Terence 
■of San Francisco, Paul Milner of Topeka and William Penn, 
of Topeka. The youngest son recently graduated from the law 
department of the Kansas State University. Frank C. Mont- 
gomery, recently deceased, as all people know, was a brilliant 
•editorial write? for many years connected with the Kansas City 



_rVaywf . ^^■Tix-. bir^' . ^ 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Journal. Mrs. Montgomery has excellent literary ability with 
a taste for historical work." 

Miss Elizabeth N. Barr, Secretary of the Kansas Authors: 
Club, and author of Washburn Ballads, has written a number 
of notable articles and has been quite a contributor of verse 
and prose for the Kansas press. 

Governor Hoch gave Miss Barr the following letter of intro- 
duction to Wabuansee County people: 

"June 14, 1907. 
To the People of Wabaunsee County: 

I understand that Miss Elizabeth N. Barr contemplates 
writing a history of Wabaunsee County. One of the beautiful 
booklets in my Kansas collection is a little book of poems by 
Miss Barr. She is a gifted young lady and I am quite sure 
will write the ptory of Wabaunsee County in a charming man- 
ner. She is a Washburn girl and I commend her as worthy of 
the confidence of those who meet her. 

Very respectfully, 

(Signed) E. W. Hoch." 

The editions of the Wabaunsee County Business Directory is 
limited to three thousand copies, and owing to a large advance 
sale the supply will soon be exhausted, but until then we will 
fill orders for a single book at one dollar or make a special rate 
for quantity. It is a magnificent book to send to friends and 
customers by patriotic residents of Wabaunsee County. 

THE KANSAS DIRECTORY COMPANY. 
Topeka, Kansas, August 15, 1907. 



Standard Directories for Sale at Special Prices 

Kansas Real Estate Directory — in cloth, $1.00. Regular 
price, $2.00. 

Kansas Produce Directory— Paper $1.00; in cloth, $1.50. 
Regular price, 33.00 and $5.00. 

Shippers' Record Book — Book for shippers of all kinds of 
produce. In boards, $1.00. 

Stock Breeders Annual and Kansas Breeders Directory — 
Price, $1.00, sell for 50 cents. 

Address all orders to Kansas Directory Co., 625 Jackson St., 
Topeka, Kans. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 




H. W. Steinmeyer, Volland, Kans. 

Mr. H. W. Steinmeyer, who lives five miles southeast of Vol- 
land, is making a specialty of fine blooded Duroc-Jerseys. He 
has a fine herd and is enjoying a good business. He started his 
herd ten years ago, and besides his immediate home trade, which 
is large, he is shipping to Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Mis- 
souri. We can venture a guess that Mr. Steinmeyer knows his 
business in the hog line. 

Egypt Lad 34032 is at head of the herd. ° Following are a 
few of the sows kept in the herd at the present time: Miss 
Topnotcher 108816, Can Be Choice 112380, Volland Ferry 83624, 
Royal Gold Dust 122970, Bessie Wonder 112382. You can make 
no mistake in buying from this herd. 

Mr. Steinmeyer also handles the Red Polled cattle, which 
herd he started five years ago with Mike Sunflower 12567 at 
iiead of herd, which is a son of the champion bull of Iowa. Last 
fall a young bull was added to the herd which is out of Lawn 
Pall 13221. 

On further conversation with Mr. Steinmeyer we find he is 
keeping a flock of the Single Comb Rhode Island Red chickens, 
which is perhaps of great interest to many who wish the vei-y 
best stock. 

His farm contains 320 acres and lays in the very heart of 
the alfalfa land. 

In answer to our questions, Mr. Steinmeyer said: "Yes, the 
fine stock business has my undivided attention and I have been 
able so far to fill my orders. The hogs and cattle which I put 
out are great advertisers for me." 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



'a]baiMi©ee County 



INDIANS. 



Wabaunsee County is one of unusual interest to the student 
of Kansas histoiy, by reason of its location, Indian reservations, 
early settlement, and war record. 

Its locality according to the belief of many of its people, 
would seem to fit the description of Quivera, 

"In that half forgotten era," 

given by Coronado in the old Spanish documents concerning his 
explorations in 1542. Mr. J. V. Browei*, an archaeologist of 
note, has spent years in research over this and adjoining coun- 
ties, and many valuable archaeological collections have been 
made which would seem to substantiate the belief of many peo- 
ple that the Quivera Indians once lived on the soil of Wabaun- 
see County. Great interest is shown in historical matters. 
A Quivera Historical Society was formed at Alma in 1901 to 
continue the research and preserve records. The Legislature 
of 1907 passed a bill authorizing the Board of Commissioners of 
Wabaunsee County to provide for the use of the Wabaunsee 
County Historical Society, a room in one of its county buildings 
for its museum and library, and were authorized to appropriate 
$1,200 out of the county funds for the purpose of providing and 
erecting a room for the vise of that society. The Quivera so- 
ciety joined in the dedication of the monument erected and com- 
pleted August 12th, 1902, by Capt. Robert Henderson, at Logan 
Grove, Geary County, in commemoration of the exploration of 
Coronado in the country of the Quivera and Harahey Indians. 

It is interesting to note that there is a difference of opinion 
as to Coronado's line of march. Mr. W. E. Richey, the archaeol- 
ogist of Harveyvile, who has his own ideas on this subject, has 
an interesting collection of Indian specimens and an old Spanish 
sword which he deposited with the Historical Society in the 
State House at Topeka. 

Whatever tribes composed the aborigines, Quivera's or Hara- 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



hey's, it is known that prior to 1846 the land embraced in Wa- 
baunsee County was claimed by the Kansas or Kaw Indians. 
In 1833, Rev. Isaac McCoy, a missionary who had charge of the 
location of the Indian tribes, was sold to this locality to survey 
a portion of land for the Shawnee Indians. In 1846, by treaty 
with the Kaws, the Pottawatomie Indians of Michigan, Wiscon- 
sin, Illinois, and Indiana, were given a portion of land thirty 
miles square beginning two miles west of Topeka, into Wa- 
baunsee, Pottawatomie, and Jackson Counties. This reservation 
extended over one- fourth , the area of Wabaunsee County and 
was occupied by over two thousand Indians. The Kaws had 
been given a reservation in the southern part of the county. 
All these lands had been allotted in severalty or thrown open for 
settlement by 1872. The Pottawatomies of the Woods and the 
Kaws went to the Indian Territory. The Prairie Band of Pot- 
tawatomie Indians still lives on the reservation given them in 
Jackson County. 

ORIGINAL FORMATION AND NAME. 

In 1855, the Territorial Legislature defined a certain portion 
of land west of Shawnee County, and attached to that county for 
business and judicial purposes, which they named Richardson 
County. As such it had no county officers or records. It was 
named after Wm. Richardson, of Illinois, who introduced the 
first Kansas and Nebraska Bill in the House of Representatives. 
On account of his political sentiments the name of the county 
was changed in 1859 to Wabaunsee, after Chief Wabaunsee of 
the Pottawatomies. The name signifies "Dawn of Day." An 
old map of "Richardson County, Kansas Territory," published 
in 1855, before the survey, shows the Pottawatomie reservation 
in the northeast, Kaw reservation in the southwest, a proposed 
railroad from Kansas City to Ft. Riley, the Mormon Trail from 
Uniontown in Shawnee, southwest through the county, and the 
Santa Fe Trail crossing the corner at Wilmington. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The county was organized in March of 1859. There were 
two voting precincts, one at Alma and one at Wabaunsee vil- 
lage. There were 111 votes cast in the election of county officers 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



which resulted as follows: County Commissioners, Henry Har- 
vey, J. M. Hubbard, G. Zwanziger; Probate Judge, J. M. Hub- 
bard; Clerk of the Court, J. M. Harvey; Sheriff, John Hodgson; 
Register of Deeds, Moses C. Welch; County Attorney, R. G. 
Terry; Coroner, August Brasche; Treasurer, Henry Harvey; 
Surveyor, G. Zwanziger; Auditor, S. F. Ross; Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, J. E. Piatt. The county was divided into 
four townships only. Wabaunsee was the first county seat, but 
in 1866 the large German population succeeded in changing it 
to Alma, as being more central. It is said that they named it 
for the river and battle of Alma in the Crimea, September 20, 
1854. 

The Territorial Legislature of 1855 defined the boundary 
lines of Richardson County as follows: Beginning at the south- 
west corner of Shawnee County, nine miles south of the present 
southwest corner of that county, and seventy-two miles west 
of the Missouri line, then west twenty-four miles, then north to 
the middle of the channel of the Kansas River, then following 
the coui-se of that river, eastward to the west line of Shawnee 
County, then south to the starting point. In 1860 Hon. C. B. 
Lines, member of the Territorial Legislature, succeeded in hav- 
ing a strip of land six miles wide and as long as the west line of 
the county, added to its confines. In 1864, the establishment of 
Morris County took from the southwest corner of Wabaunsee 
County seventy-two square miles of land. In the Legislature of 
1868, Hon. Wm. Mitchell succeeded in reclaiming that land for 
the county. In 1869 it was again given to Morris County, but 
in the Legislature of 1870, a compromise was brought by which 
one-half was given to Morris and one-half to Wabaunsee. In 
1871, when John Pinkerton was representative, the Legislature 
enacted a law detaching most of Zeandale Township from the 
county, giving it to Riley. After the bill had passed the House, 
and before it reached the Governor, it was illegally changed to 
take in a larger territory than named in the true bill. In 1872 
and 1873 efforts were made to recover the illegally detached 
portion, finally resulting successfully when A. Sellers was Rep- 
resentative, but uniformity in the west boundary was never 
regained. 



10 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION. 

Its location is in the fourth tier of counties from the east 
line of the State, about seventy-five miles from the Missouri 
River and about midway between the north and south boundaries 
of the State. It is bounded on the north by the Kansas River, 
Riley, Pottawatomie, and Shawnee Counties, on the east by 
Shawnee and Osage, on the south by Morris and Lyon, and its 
neighbors on the west are Riley, Geary and Morris. The sur- 
face of the county is very much broken, especially in the central 
portion, where there is a chain of bluffs. It is crossed by many 
streams and creeks along whose banks are fine grovrths of tim- 
ber, including walnut, oak, cottonwood, hickoiy, and locust. The 
largest of these streams is Mill Creek, which, with its many 
tributaries, empties into the Kansas River near the northeast 
corner of the county. The bottom lands along the river are very 
fertile though not wide, varying from one-half mile to one and 
one-half miles in width. These bottom lands make up about 
fifteen per cent of the area of the county. The soil is very rich 
varying from two to ten feet in depth. The greater part of the 
county is upland px'airie, whose soil where not faced with lime- 
stone, can not be excelled for grazing purposes. This abundance 
of pasturage and the bountiful water supply make Wabaunsee 
County of great importance in the matter of stock-raising. The 
highest point of land in the county is Buffalo Mound in Maple 
Hill Township, south of Mill Ci*eek. From this point can be 
seen a view extending over forty miles in radius. There is a 
story that General J. C. Fremont camped near by and raised 
the flag on its summit, while on his way to the Pacific in 1843. 
This mound and other picturesque features of Maple Hill Town- 
ship make the village of Maple Hill on the Rock Island railroad, 
a favorite summer resort with the people of adjacent counties. 

SETTLEMENT. 

The story of the early settlement of the county is full of in- 
terest. The first white men outside the reservations were evi- 
dently pirates of the prairie. They built a log house in 1842 
near where Harveyville is now. Their purpose was to rob trav- 
elers on the several roads. From a high mound near by they 
could observe the Santa Fe Trail which was used before the 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 11 



year 1800 and was well established by 1822. It was used by 
Mexican ti'aders, paymasters, and gold-seekers. This nest of 
robbers was broken up after the killing of twenty-seven Mex- 
ican traders and the robbery of five hundred mules and treasure- 
box said to contain seventy-five thousand dollars in gold. Gov- 
ernment authorities were notified, chase was given, nineteen of 
the robbers were shot in the fight, and five were sent to prison 
for life. The money was never recovered for the owner, but 
there is a story that a mysterious Englishman dug up the treas- 
ure-box from under the ruins of the log-house in 1895, and im- 
mediately left the place. 

One of the first settlers in the county was Jacob Terras, a 
German, who located on Hendi'icks' Creek, one mile east of 
Alma, in 1853. Before 1854, John P. Gleich, Joseph and Peter 
Thoes, Frank Schmidt, R. Schrauder, and C. Schwanke had set- 
tled in different parts of the county. The first collective set- 
tlement was made in 1854 on the Kansas River in Wabaunsee 
Township, by a colony of about thirty-four people of mixed na- 
tionality. They made their settlement on Government land just 
outside the reservation. Among them were D. B'. Hiatt, Peter 
and Bartholomew Sharer, Clark Lapham, J. Smith, Rev. Leon- 
ard, Robert Banks, J. Nesbit, and Horace W. Tabor. J. H. 
Nesbit was a secretary in the Free State Convention at Topeka 
in 1855. Horace W. Tabor, afterward Senator from Colorado, 
was a representative from Richardson County in 1856. He was 
a member of the Free State Party, and left the State for Colo- 
rado in 1859. Rev. Harvey Jones and wife were sent to this 
settlement as missionaries. He took up one hundred and sixty 
acres of Government land just outside the reservation on Em- 
mons Creek, where he built a rude cabin. For several years 
this house was used for church, school, and postofRce. Harvey 
.Jones was both preacher and postmaster. The mail arrived 
once a week from Tecumseh. In 1855 a German colony, com- 
posed mostly of single men, came to a place near the present 
site of Alma. Their plans for a town failed, and before a year 
passed most of them abandoned their claims and their chosen 
townsite was pre-empted by Gottlieb Zwanziger. 

Among the Quakers who settled in Wilmington Township in 
1854, was Henry Harvey, the historic character deserving of 
more than passing mention. He had come from Ohio to Kansas 



12 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



in 1840 with the Shawnee Indians as their teacher in the Shaw- 
nee Mission School in Johnson County. He returned to Ohio in 
1842 and began his "History of the Shawnee Indian from 1681 
to 1854, inclusive." This volume is now very rare and contains 
one of the few written accounts of the flood in the Kaw valley 
in 1844. He was a great friend of the Indian and was appointed 
Government agent to the Osage tribe in 1850 by President Tay- 
lor. In 1854 he settled with his two sons on Dragoon Creek, 
near the present site of Harveyville, which was named in his 
honor. His book was published in Ohio in 1855. 

BEECHER BIBLE AND RIFLE SOCIETY. 

The largest colony that came to the county was "The Beecher 
Bible and Rifle Society.'" This was organized in 1856 in New 
Haven, Conn., inspired by the intense interest in the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill. The colonists were assisted in their plans by cit- 
izens of their native State and by Henry Ward Beecher and his 
church, which furnished twenty-five rifles at $25 each. Fifty- 
two rifles were bought for members not supplied, and when the 
colony left New Haven for Kansas March 29th, 1856, every one 
of its seventy men were armed with a Sharpies, rifle, a Bible, 
and hymn-book. Their avowed purpose was to aid in the estab- 
lishment of liberty, good government, church, school, town, and 
a farm for each person. The company consisted of all classes — 
ministers, merchants, doctors, mechanics, laborers, and two had 
benn in the Legislatui-e of their native State. Five men brought 
their families and all came well provided with provisions. Farm 
implements were purchased at St. Louis and Kansas City, where 
also, cattle were bought. Sixty-five of the members arrived 
about May 1st, 1856, and established a camp at Wabaunsee, 
where they joined the 1854 colony. The Government had made 
only a partial survey, so their first work was to survey town- 
ships and divide them off into sections, after which each man 
chose his claim. Then the town site of Wabaunsee was chosen 
and named after the Indian Chief. The town company included 
nine of the settlers prior to the coming of the colony. Here was 
built the first school house with funds partly furnished by the 
editor of the New York Sun, and the historic stone church for 
which Connecticut furnished most of the building fund. Harvey 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 13 



Jones was the first pastor. The committee of seven who organ- 
ized the church society were S. H. Fairfield, Hai'vey Jones, Hi- 
ram Mabie, Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Lines, and Mr. and Mrs. C. E. 
Pond. S. H. Fairfield was one of the volunteers to the colony 
in September, 1856, from Mendon, Illinois. Among these were 
S. R. Weed, Enoch Piatt, J. E. Piatt, and L. H. Piatt. Many 
were the privations and struggles of this colony resulting from 
Indian depredations, drouth, flood, sickness, prairie-fires, and 
frequent Indian alarms. Many became discouraged and left the 
colony. 

Among those from Connecticut who remained more than 
three months, we find the names of C. E. Lines, Wm. Hartley, 
J. D. Farren, George H. Coe, F. H. Hart, Silas M. Thomas, L. 
H. Root, J. M. Hubbard, Wm. Mitchell, O. Bardwell, Roland 
Moses, A. A. Cotteral, H. S. Hall, Benj. Street, J. J. Walter, T. 
C. P. Hyde, E. C. D. Lines, E. D. Street, Timothy Reed, H. M. 
Selden, George Wells, S. A. Baldwin, W. S. Griswold, Isaac 
Fenn, J. P. Root, J. F. Willard, H. D. Rice, H. Isbell, D. F. 
Scranton, E. J. Lines, F. W. Ingham, L. A. Parker, E. N. Pen- 
eld, R. W. Griswold, G. H. Thomas, M. C. Welch, B. C. Porter, 
F. Johnson, C. E. Pond, L. W. Clark, and W. G. McNary. The 
story of the colony will always occupy an honored place in the 
records of Kansas. Its men, wherever they scattered, had much 
to do with the history of the State. J. P. Root was the first 
Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Kansas — 1861. Hon. C. B. 
Lines was most active in affairs of the State, representing his 
county several terms. J. M. Hubbard, Lieutenant Co. K., 11th 
Kansas, returned in after years to his native State, Connecticut, 
and served several terms in the Legislature of that State. The 
colony established farms, town, school, church, and a militia 
company. Thus was their original purpose accomplished. It 
is said this colony alone furnished twenty-seven men for the 
Civil War. During the settlement of this colony Richardson 
County was represented by H. W. Tabor. Hon. C. B. Lines was 
the first territorial representative of Wabaunsee County. E. 
J. Lines, A. Allen, and E. Hobeneke were in the first State Leg- 
islature in 1861, and J. M. Hubbard was its first State Senator. 
In 1855, Wabaunsee had one vote for State Capital. 



14 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



EMIGRATION. 

Before 1857 there had been a steady emigration of German 
families into the county, large numbers of whom settled in Alma 
Township. In that and other townships we find the name of 
Henry Krupp, Fred Palenske, Henry and J. Terras, E. Hohen- 
eck and G. Zwanziger, who built the first mill, which he after- 
wards sold to Lorenzo Pauly. Mr. Zwanziger sold part of his 
claim to the Alma Town Company, and surveyed it off into 
streets, blocks and lots. In Washington Township were located 
A. Brasche, Mr. Maxbrink, Adolph Patting and Henry Grimm, 
the hero of the Platte Bridge Indian Massacre. Ed Krapp, A. 
Hankammer, and John Spiecker settled in Farmer Township. 
Henry Schmidt, Wm. Drebing, B. Cline and J. Metzger settled 
in Mill Creek Township. 

Wabaunsee County was especially favored, settled as it was 
principally by New Englanders of good education and high 
ideals, and by perhaps the most desirable of foreign emigration 
— Germans — whose descendants are to-day among the most in- 
fluential, industrious, and prosperous people of the county. 

SCHOOLS. 

In the struggle for existence in the early days, the pioneers 
did not forget the education of their children. Prior to 1859 
four school-houses were built, principally by private subscrip- 
tion. D. B. Hiatt was the first man to teach in the county, and 
Miss M. H. Cotton (Mrs. J. T. Glenn) was the first women teach- 
er. The first school-house was built in Wabaunsee. Public 
school districts were organized in 1859 in three localities. The 
county was favored in having men of fine education at the head 
of its schools. The first county superintendent was J. E. Piatt, 
afterward professor in the Agricultural College for twenty 
years. Supt. Robert Tunnell was afterward principal of Fair- 
mount College at Wichita. Upon Supt. W. W. Ramey devolved 
the work of grading the county schools. Matthew Thompson, 
editor, was county superintendent for ten years. He rendered 
another valuable service to his county when he wrote his Wa- 
baunsee County history, considered one of the best county his- 
tories in the Historical Library at Topeka. Florence Dickin- 
son was county superintendent in 1890. George L. Clothier was 



Wabaunsee Cormty Directory and History 15 



county superintendent in 1892. The present county superintend- 
ent is Fred I. Hinshaw of Alma. In 1863 there were fifteen 
school districts, in one of which there was held no school be- 
cause of Indian raids. District No. 10, used the stone fort built 
in 1864 on the farm of August Wolgast. Many of the school- 
houses were built of logs. There are now eighty-nine organized 
school districts, sixty of which have libraries. There are Cath- 
olic schools at Alma and Paxico, a German Baptist school at 
AltaVista, and a Lutheran school at Alma. The county has 
4,204 persons of school age. 

CIVIL WAR RECORD. 

Soon after the arrival of the Beecher colony they formed a 
militia company called the Prairie Guards, which took part in 
the Wakarusa war in the summer of 1856. Its captain was Wm. 
Mitchell. At the beginning of the Civil War, the population 
was only 1,050, of whom about 250 were voters, and being com- 
posed largely of New Englanders were anti-slavery in belief. 
Out of about 200 men subject to military duty, 112 men enlisted, 
a record to be proud of. About one-half of them were in the 
famous 11th Kansas, over thirty were in the 8th Infantry, some 
were in different companies of cavalry, six were in the 2nd In- 
fantry, in whose service Captain E. D. C. Lines lost his life. 
After the campaign against General Price in 1864, the 11th 
Kansas was ordered to the frontier for a campaign against the 
Indians in Wyoming. In the Platte Bridge Massacre, July, 1865, 
Sebastian Nehring of Alma was slain and his body horribly 
mutilated. Henry Glimm, late of VoUand, received arrow 
wounds from which he suffei-ed all his life. Adolph Hankammer 
was also wounded. It was the sad mission of Stephen H. Fair- 
field, now of Alma, to assist in burying the dead. In this bloody 
battle twenty-five men were killed and their bodies dismembered, 
two wei'e wounded. The Civil War record of the county is so 
well known and valued that it is needless to give further detail. 

The following enlisted in the Union Army and went into 
active service in the different regiments: 

Second Infantry, Company B. — E. C. D. Lines, A. M. Reed, 
A. Hankimmer, H. L. Isbell, M. C. Welch, I. C. Isbell. 

Eighth Infantry, Company E. — Capt. John Greelish, Wm. 
Richardson, R. M. Kendall, Wm. Blankenslip, Ephraim Smith, 



16 Wabaunsee Coiinty Directory and History 



J. P. Kendall, J. B. Bancks, G. W. Barnes, L. P. Cawkins, 
Charles Cooney, J. H. Dunmire, Daniel Spear, John Wells, S. 
Brickford, Charles Burns, J. H. Cummings, Henry Grimm, A. 
W. Harris, Z. Johnson, J. W. Johnson, Henry Lutz, Amos Reese, 

A. J. Smith, S. J. Speer, John Saylor, F. M. Weaver. 
The following enlisted in the cavalry service: 

Second Cavalry, Company A. — W. C. Studibaker; Company 

B. James Dickson; Company F. — Charles Ross, W. B. Dotty, 
G. W. Eddy, G. F. Hartwell, A. S. Waters, S. B. Easter, Eli 
Watson; Company K. — C. E. Bisby, Columbus Foster, A. H. 
Kelsey. 

Fifth Cavalry, Company A. — Hamilton Davis; Company L. — 
B. C. Benedict. 

Sixth Cavalry, Company F. — Joseph Weisse, E. W. Wetzold. 

Eighth Cavalry, Company E. — Haynie Tomson. 

Eleventh Cavalry, Company E. — Benj. Cripps, Ira Hodgson, 
A. D. McCoy, George Hodgson, I. H. Isbell, G. H. Hill, A. H. 
Brown, J. N. Smith, George Ross, Riley Frizzle, Albert Kees, 
Wm. Mahan, W. F. Isbell, W. H. Lapham, L .J. Mossman, Sam- 
uel Sage, C. G. Town, Samuel Woods; Company G. — J. F. Chap- 
man; Company I. — H. C. Thompson; Company K. — Capt. J. M. 
Allen, Lieut. J. M. Hubbard, J. H .Pinkerton, J. B. Allen, Moritz 
Krauz, D. Schwanke, P. C. Pinkerton, W. A. Yimbocker, Henry 
Grimm, S. H. Fairfield, Albert Dieball, C. D. Ensign, Isaac Fenn, 
Edward Hoffman, Jacob Isler, Hiram Keyes, A. T. McCormick, 
J. M. McCormick, John McNair, Sebast. Nehring, G. Siegrist, 
R, M. Widney, Wm. Wiley, R. P. Plain, R. J. Earl; Company 
L.— Lieut. J. VanAntwerp, J. T. Green, C. B. Cotton, E. A. Kel- 
sey, Wm. Smith, John Smith; Company M. — John N. Doty. 

A comparison between the enlistments of 1861 and 1898 is 
interesting. In 1861, 112 men volunteered out of a population 
of 1,050. In the Spanish-American War, 1898, 29 men enlisted 
out of a population of 12,172. Undoubtedly many enlisted in 
the regular army at Fort Riley. The enlistment in the volun- 
teer regiments was as follows: 

Twenty-First Regiment, Co. G. — Hugo Brandt, Second Lieu- 
tenant (resigned) ; Charles Dilley, Sergeant; Ralph Lane, Cor- 
poral; Julius C. Behnke, Corporal; Frank Davis, Albert Eisen- 
hart, Gustavo Kratzer, Edward Mann, Albert F. Miller, Chris. 
Mungerson, Elmer Motz, Charles G. Davis, Frank Davis. All 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 17 

these were from Alma. In the same company were Kelley Cro- 
zier, Artificer, and Henry Adam from Volland; Wm. R. Bradley, 
Alta Vista; Ai-thur Griffith, Bradford; Benton H. Jackson, of 
Keene; Royal S. Wood, Wabaunsee; Wm. E. Walker, Maple 
Hill; Bert G. Loveland, Keene. 

Co. M. — Earl E. Dilley, Alma; Clarence E. Younker and 
Clyde F. Younker, of McFarland. 

Co. I. — George Heubner, Corporal, Alma. 

Attached to Staff, Twenty-First Regiment — Winstead Deans, 
Alma; Bert G. Loveland, Keene. 

Twenty-Second Regiment, Co. I. — Richard S. Goodwin, Cor- 
poral, and Barndt Nelson, both of Maple Hill. 

Twenty-Third Regiment, Co. H. — Wm. Buck, Paxico, in ser- 
vice in Cuba from August, 1898, to March, 1899. 

Twenty-one of the men were in Co. G, Twenty-First Regi- 
ment, recruited at Osage City, May 13th, 1898. They were sta- 
tioned most of the time at Camp George H. Thomas, near Lysle, 
Ga. Much sickness prevailed in this camp where Henry Allen, 
of Volland, gave up his life in Leiter Hospital, August 25th, 
1898. The i-egiment was moved to Camp Hamilton, Ky., August 
26th, where it stayed until ordered to Ft. Leavenworth, Septem- 
ber 27th. It was mustered out December 10th, 1898. 

The men of the Twenty-Second Regiment were most of the 
time at Camp Algr, Va., when they were ordered on a march of 
fifty miles to Thoroughfare, Va., arriving August 9th; then by 
rail to Camp Meade, Middletown, Pa., August 29th ; ordered to 
Ft. Leavenworth, September 9th, mustered out November 3rd, 
1898. It was a source of greatest disappointment to the men of 
these regiments that they were not given a chance in active field 
service. 

RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES. 

The resources of the county are varied, but it is particularly 
adapted to stock-raising as nearly seventy-five per cent of its 
area is most suitable for pasturage, with an abundant water- 
supply. Hay is a product of great importance, vast quantities 
being used or shipped out. Corn is its best field crop and it 
claims to lead in yield of sweet potatoes. There are more than 
seventy thousand fruit trees, over half of which are apple. It 
stands high in the State in the number and value of its cattle. 



18 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Naturally the principal industry of the county is stock-raising. 
Its many successful stock-breeders aim to reach the highest per- 
fection in pure-bred stock. Eighteen of its stockmen belong to 
the Kansas Improved Stock Breeders' Association. 

Wabaunsee County has a great treasure in her hills, unsur- 
passed for building as well as lime and cement making purposes. 
Limestone is found all over the county in ledges from one to six 
feet. This industry furnishes employment to many hundreds of 
men, the out-put being shipped in all directions for many pur- 
poses from railway ballast and bridge building to pretentious 
city structures. There seems to be an unlimited supply of this 
stone, the largest quarries being located at Eskridge and Alma. 
Salt works are located at Alma, which at one time shipped from 
thirty to fifty barrels a day, but seem to have been abandoned. 

From the report of F. D. Coburn, Secretary of Agriculture, 
we learn that in 1896 the value of the field crops was $1,731,074. 
The "Helpful Hen" scored next, in value of poultry and eggs 
sold $118,347. The "Sister of the Beef Steer" produced $47,746 
worth of butter, $33,259 worth of milk sold, and $4,387 worth 
of cheese. The value of honey crop was $2,400. The wool clip 
was worth $300. The wood marketed amounted to $1,801. Wa- 
baunsee ranks fifty-six in the State with a population of 12,014 
in 1906. Its assessed valuation is $3,213,464. 

COUNTY REPRESENTATION. 

Wabaunsee County is in the Thirty-fifth Judicial District, 
in the Twenty-first Senatorial District, in the Forty-ninth Legis- 
lative District and the Fourth Congressional District. J. N. 
Dolley, of Maple Hill, is the State Senator, and Wyatt Roush is 
its Representative. The county has thirteen townships, embrac- 
ing S04 square miles, or 514,560 acres. The population of the 
largest towns in 1906 is given thus: Alma, county seat, 814; 
Eskridge, 806; Alta Vista, 411; McFarland, 311; Harveyville, 
262; Maple Hill, 246; Paxico, 244. 

The present county officers are C. C. Stotler, Clerk, Alma; 
L. J. McCrumb, Treasurer, Alma; Frank Schmidt, Sheriff, 
Alma; Oscar Schmitz, County Attorney, Alma; L. L. Teas, Clerk 
District Court, Alma; J. A. Bisley, Register of Deeds, Alma; 
Joseph Little, Probate Judge, Alma; F. I. Hinshaw, County 



lY abaunsee County Directory and History 10 



Superintendent, Alma; L. B. Eurt, Surveyor, Wabaunsee; Geo. 
A. King, Coroner, Paxico. Commissioners: First District, B. 
Buchli, Alma; Second District, W. K. Beach, Maple Hill; Third 
District, J. J. Mails, Wabaunsee. 

The county seat was located at Alma in 1866, after a spir- 
ited contest with Wabaunsee, the first county seat, and other 
towns. There had been no permanent buildings erected in Wa- 
baunsee for county purposes. When the Alma site was chosen 
there was not a single house upon it. In 1867 a small frame 
building was erected to receive the county records. The sum 
paid to Gottlieb Zwanziger for the site was only $200. He sur- 
veyed it off in streets, blocks, and lots. The town was incor- 
porated as a village in 1868. The members of the first village 
council were: Chairman S. R. Weed, August Meryor, Henry 
Schmidt, John Winkler, and Herman Dirker. S. R. Weed was 
also Probate Judge and N. H. Whittemore was attorney for the 
council. 

INSTITUTIONS. 

The first newspaper was The Wabminsee County Herald, 
published by A. Sellers and G. W. Bertram in April, 1869. The 
following papers are now published in the county: Alma En- 
terprise, Republican, Frank I. Sage and O. W. Little, editors 
and publishers; Alma Signal, Republican, H. C. Sticher, editor 
and publisher; Eskridge Star, Republican, Dow Busenbark, edi- 
tor and publisher; Wabaunsee County Tribune, Republican, W. 
H. Melrose, editor; Alta Vista Journal, neutx'al, James A. Shill- 
ing; Harveyville Moniitor, independent, Jos. Frishman, editor, 
Printing Company, publisher. 

The first Catholic service in Alma was conducted by Father 
Remelee. The first Lutheran service was held by Rev. Senne. 
Th oldest church in the county was built in 1862 at Wabaunsee 
by the Congregationalists. 

The first railroad reached the county in 1880, built by the 
Santa Fe, called The Manhattan, Alma & Burlingame. From 
McFarland north it is now operated by the Rock Island, which 
built its road through the county in 1886. There are 75..52 
miles of main track. 

The fii'st steamboat passing up the river was the "Excel," Cap- 
tain Baker, in 1854. The log of the Steamer "Guss Linn" going 



r20 



Wabau7isee County Directory and History 



from Kansas City to Fort Riley in 1859, reported as follows: 
■'"May 16th, 1859. Reached Wabaunsee, containing one store 
and fifteen houses." 

The telephone franchise was granted in 1898, to J. H. 
McMahan, beginning with twelve telephones. 

The Rural Mail Deliveiy reached the county in 1901 in Maple 
Hill township. 

We note the change in population in forty-six years: 



1860 1,023 

1870 3,362 

1880 8,759 

1890 10,780 

1900 12,299 

1901 12,406 



1902 12,134 

1903 12,391 

1904 12,160 

1905 11,910 

1906 12,014 



THE FLOOD. 

The slight variation of population between 1901 and 1906, 
Tnust be ascribed to the fact that the small tracts of land were 
bought up for pasture by stockmen, rather than any other 
reason. It takes more than an occasional dry spell or an in- 
frequent flood to drive out the average Wabaunsee man. When 
Enoch Piatt joined the Beecher Colony in 1856 and looked about 
for a claim, he consulted William Mitchell, who pointed to the 
bottom lands of the Kaw. Piatt refused the proffered location 
and chose land higher up with the prophesy that the river would 
one day overflow. S. H. Fairfield says that few of the settlers 
of 1856 took land on the river, preferring the uplands. They 
were no doubt influenced by the warning of the Indians, whose 
losses in the flood of 1844 were still fresh in their minds. In 
after years, having witnessed no alarming overflow, they gained 
•confidence in the old Kaw and took up the fertile land along 
its banks. 

The warnings and the prophesy had long since been forgot- 
ten when people awoke on the 28th of May, 1903, to a realiza- 
tion that a flood was upon them. Some remembered the warn- 
ing in time, others held the fort in their homes until rescued 
by their neighbors, some of whom were fortunate enough to 
have boats. No loss of life was reported, but the loss of homes, 
land, stock, crops, orchards, implements, and household treas- 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 21' 



ures was immense and could not be adequately reckoned in 
figures. Along the Kaw the utter desolation of the scene was 
beyond description. The river was from two to ten miles wide- 
and its bridges gone or badly damaged. All the creeks and 
streams in the county were swollen and many of their bridges 
washed away. The river extended over two miles south of the 
Wamego bridge, some places twenty feet deep. New channels 
were formed which would rob one man to his neighbor's advan- 
tage. One man was given a lake while another was left on an 
island. Great trees and even groves of trees were swept away 
and cellars were gouged out under houses that possessed none 
before. Orchards were ruined and all crops on the bottom lands 
were carried away. Many dwellings, barns, and outbuildings 
and the school-houses in District 52, floated down the river. Re 
ceding waters left sandbanks piled against the houses and floors; 
were covered with sand, sometimes as high as the door-knobs. 

In looking over the files of newspapers of the county for that 
week, two stories impressed one aside from the record of de- 
struction during the flood-time. One was an account of the 
removal of Mrs. Robert Earl, from her home at Zeandale, on 
the bottom, to a place of safety. Mrs. Earl was one of the set- 
tlers in 1856, when Zeandale Township belonged to Richardson 
County, and her death occurred after the flood, June 8th. 
Another story was that of the marooning of three passenger 
trains, containing near 400 people, at McFarland; the efforts 
to provide food enough for such a crowd; the benefit ball given 
in Arnold's Hall, the tickets for which were printed thus: 
"Wash-out Ball, by the Victim's Amusement Co., McFarland 
Island, June 1, 1903." 

All this is too recent to be classed as history, but no story 
of the county would be complete without some tribute to the- 
indomitable spirit and enterprise of its people, who refuse to 
be overcome by fire, drouth or flood. Whatever the calamitjr 
they were quick to recover their losses. If it was fire, new and 
better buildings were built; if drouth, patience endured until 
the next season. As soon as possible after the flood, corn was 
planted for the second time, and farmers and real estate men 
were claiming that the soil would be benefited in the end by the 
overflow. 

Thus they rise above all difficulties. It must be the Spirit, 
of '56. 



22 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



STOCK BUSINESS IN WABAUNSEE COUNTY. 

One of the most important industries in Wabaunsee County 
is cattle-pasturing and stock-raising. Both are engaged in to a 
great extent and bring considerable money into the county. This 
county being the "Switzerland of Kansas," is particularly 
adapted to pasturage. The four creeks and their tributaries 
furnish water in abundance at all times, while the native grass 
on the hills is of such a high quality that cattle pasturage 
usually brings fifty cents more per head than any other locali- 
ties. 

The cattle are brought here from Texas about May 1st, for 
the season. The main points for unloading cattle are Alma, 
Harveyville, Eskridge, Halifax, Volland, and Altavista. There 
are from thirty to forty thousand head of cattle pastured in the 
county yearly at $3.00 to $3.50 and as high as $4.00 per head. 
Most of these animals are steers and it is not an uncommon 
thing for one animal to gain several hundred pounds during the 
season. 

Native grade cattle are raised extensively in Wabaunsee 
County, which sold off the grass last fall for 6 cents per pound. 
Coburn's report shows the number of milch cows in the county 
in 1906 to be 9,523 with a value of $257,121, and the number 
of other cattle to be 35,074 with a value of $701,480. These 
figures compared with those of the previous year show that 
while the aggregate number of cattle is less, the aggregate price 
is nearly $200,000 more than in 1905. This increase in the 
value per head may be due to the natural rise in price, but it is 
probable that it is at least partly due to the increase in the 
number of pure-bred stock. 

Pure-bred cattle have been raised in this county for the 
last thirty years, but lately the number of herds have been 
greatly increased. It is estimated that there are some forty 
different farmers engaged in the raising of pure-bred cattle. 
These are pretty well scattered over the county, but there are 
more of them about Eskridge than any other locality. 

The hog and poultry business is also engaged in very exten- 
sively. Nearly every farmer keeps from two to five hundred 
hens. There are several breeders who make a specialty of 
pure-bred poultry. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 23 



In the last few years a great deal of attention is being paid 
to raising pure-bred hogs. Most of the breeders have a good 
home market for their animals, as the people of Wabaunsee 
County are finding that it pays better to raise improved stock 
than grade stock for the market. The raising of good animals 
is a matter of education and this county is pretty well advanced 
along this line. 

The progressive State of Kansas, with her acres of waving 
yellow wheat, the large acreage of corn, to say nothing of the 
vast expanse of fine pastures, has many things of which she 
may well be proud. 

Prominent among these is the live-stock industry in which 
she stands well up in the list as compared with other States. 
She may justly feel proud of the large live-stock market which 
she has been so big a factor in building. This market, located 
on the Eastern border, is also proud of the State which has 
been the largest contributor thereto. 

Located at this market is a commission firm whose growth has 
been commensurate with the growth of that market, and also 
the State of Kansas, and stands today as one of the largest firms 
doing business at the Kansas City Stock Yards — The J. P. Peters 
Commission Company — whose advertisement appears elsewhere 
in this issue, and to whom we would suggest writing if you have 
any stock on hand or wish to purchase. At the head of this 
firm is our old-time friend, Jim Peters, for many years a citi- 
zen of Wabaunsee County, who is ably assisted by a large and 
efficient corps of salesmen and buyers. His pens are the choicest 
in the Yards, being in the immediate vicinity of five different 
scales; direct chutes and viaducts to his pens from the loading 
tracks, and well-divided and sufficient pen-room, all of which are 
large factors in the proper handling of live stock to secure good 
fills, quick sales, and immediate weigh-ups. These various import- 
ant features add many dollars to the bank accounts of the pa- 
trons of this company. 

The Kansas Breeders' Directory for 1907, issued by the 
Kansas Improved Stock Breeders' Association, shows the fol- 
lowing list of fine-stock breeders in Wabaunsee County, who 
are members of the State Association : 

Herman Arndt, Templin, Poland-Chinas. 

T. P. Babst & Sons, Dover, Shorthorns. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



J. M. Beach, Maple Hill, Route No. 1, Holsteins. 

R. M. Buck, Eskridge, Shorthorns, Poland-Chinas, Poultry. 

Scott R. Buck, Eskridge, Shorthorns. 

A. M. Jordan, Alma, Poland-Chinas, Poultry. 

C. S. Kelley, Paxico, Poland-Chinas. 

E. L. Knapp, Maple Hill, Shorthorns. 

C. G. Nash, Eskridge, Berkshires, Poultry, 

Andrew Pringle, Eskridge, Shorthorns, Poland-Chinas. 

A. and P. Schmitz, Alma, Poland-Chinas. 

H. W. Steinmeyer, Volland, Duroc-Jerseys. 

E. W. Thoes, Alma, Duroc-Jerseys. 

Wm. J. Todd, Maple Hill, Feeder. 

Seb. Wertsberger, Volland, Herefords. 

K. C. Berry, Eskridge, Percherons, Shorthorns, Berkshires. 

W. G. Martin, Eskridge, Shorthorns, Berkshires. 



T. P. BAB5T. 



Mr. T. P. Babst, who lives on Walnut Grove, near Dover, 
has been a breeder for thirty years. His specialty is Shorthorn 
cattle, and he has raised some of the finest animals in the United 
States. He sells all his stock himself and never puts it on show, 
but the stock has never failed to draw prizes wherever shown by 
the buyers. The choicest animals on the State Agricultural 
College farm are from the Babst herd; also nearly all of the 
Tomson and Son's show animals. Mr. Babst at present keeps 
a herd of about one hundred and twenty-five cattle. He has the 
oldest Shorthorn establishment in the State. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



25 



J. P. PETERS 

COMMISSION COMPANY 



Kansas City Stock Yards Kansas City, Mo. 



A Square 
Deal. 



Strictly Commission 
Merchants. 




Composed of experienced, successful and practical stockmen. 
Have best located pens and plenty of them. Prompt service in 
receiving and handling of stock and proceeds. Best information 
service. 

Test Our Work by a Trial Consignment. 



26 



Wabau7tsee County Directory and History 



Abstracters, Real Estate and 
Loans. 

W. G. Weaver. 
R. J. Kerans. 

Banks. 

The Alma National Bank. 
The Bank of Alma. 

Barber-Shops. 

West Side Barber-Shop. 
A. A. Johnson. 

Blacksmiths. 

Wilson & Noller. 
E. T. Linss. 
Frank Metzger. 

Books and Music Store. 

L. Palenske. 

Boots and Shoes. 

Adolph Zeckser. 

Cattle and Pasture Office. 

A. S. Allendorf. 

Cigar Manufactory. 

C. H. Cozine. 

Clothing. 

E. L. Knostman Clothing Co. 

Dentist. 

Dr. C. Glunz. 



BUSINESS DIRECTORY, 

Druggists. 



A. A. Meyer. 
Brown Drug Co. 

Dry Goods. 

Carl Lang. 

Electric Light. 

Alma Light and Power Co. 

Furniture and Wall Paper. 

E. T. Diestelhorst. 
Furniture and Undertaking. 
Thoes & Schieber. 

General Merchandise. 

Meyer Bros. 
Pries Store. 

Groceries. 

J. B. Cassidy. 

Hardware. 

Fred Lutz. 
Conrad Mueller. 

F. C. Simon. 
Alf Umbehr. 

Harness and Saddles. 

Geo. Sutherland. 

Horseshoers. 

R. N. Gaugh. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



27 



Hotels. 

The Brand Hotel. 
The Commercial Hotel. 

Jewelry. 
J. H. Newell. 

Laundry. 
The Alma Laundry. 

Lawyers. 

J. T. Keagy. 
C. E. Carrol. 
Wm. Bowes. 
Jno. W. Wilson. 

Livery Stables. 

Degenhardt & Kraus. 
Albert Copp. 
August Uttermann. 

Lumber Yards. 

Oetinger Lumber Co. 
Eck's Lumber Yard. 

Marble Works. 

Alma Marble Works. 

Meat Market. 

L. Undorf. 
Grunewald & O'Neill. 



Millinery. 

Mrs. Frank Grunewald. 
Anna B. Dwyer. 

Mills. 

Mid-Kansas Milling Co. 

Newspapers. 

The Alma Signal. 
The Alma Enterprise. 

Photographers. 

.G. H. Meier. 

Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. C. H. Mielke. 

Dr. G. W. B. Beaverly. 

Produce Dealers. 

Freeman & Rose. 

Real Estate Dealers. 

J. B. Fields. 
W. G. Weaver. 

Repair Shop. 

C. Schubert. 

Restaurants. 

L. W. Schroeder. 
J. E. Kitterman. 



Alma, the "Shire Town," and most important point in Wa- 
baunsee County, is located on Mill Creek. Most writers would 
say located at the junctions of the Rock Island and Santa Fe, 
but as Alma was here before the railroads, we claims that she 
is located on Mill Creek. With Hendricks branching from 
Mill Creek on the north and the Illinois on the south, the country 



28 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



about Alma is inclined to be hilly. The town nestling down 
among the green hills might admit of extensive description if 
we were disposed to write it all out. We simply borrow an 
expression from the Bible and say, "a city beautiful for situa- 
tion" and pass on. 

Alma is located abovit the center of the county and the only 
town of any size between Topeka and Herington. It is thus 
the hub of a large and pi'osperous territory. Its location in 
relation to large towns is thirty-six miles west of Topeka, 
twenty-two miles east of Manhattan and thirty-four miles north- 
west of Burlingame. 

The question of how Alma came to be named is a mooted one. 
Most of the early settlers held an opinion of their own on the 
subject. Since it is a subject of which the writer knows abso- 
lutely nothing, we will give the different views pertaining to 



m r i« w ntw »« y v>o» r^, •««»-» 




Wabaunsee County Court House. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



29 



the name and let each reader settle it for himself. The settle- 
ment seems to have been called Alma in the '50s and so must 
have been named by some early settler. John Winkler, an early 
settler, says that the name was first applied to the postoffice 
kept by John Spiecker on a high point on his farm south of 
town, now referred to as lookout station. The Switzers, several 
families of whom lived in the vicinity, called this place "The 
Alma," meaning in Swizz a high open place, frequented by 
herdsmen and by lovers. Mr. Winkler says that Henry Schmitz 
is responsible for the name being given to the city. 

Phil ¥. Johnson credits Gottleib Zwanziger with naming the 
place Alma, because he came from a place named Alma in the 
old country, also because the word in English signified a Ger- 
man Settlement. 

Slightly akin to this last view is the one held by A. F. 
Thayer of Maple Hill, who suggests that the name came from 
the River Alma, on which a bloody battle was fought in 1854, 
his theory is that some of the soldiers of that battle found their 
way to this locality and named the town to commemorate the 



Commissioner 
B. BUCHLI. 

Mr. Buchli was born in 
Switzerland. He came to 
Wabaunsee County in 
1876, was County Clerk 
from 1898 to 1903. Mr. 
Buchli lives on his farm 
near Sunbeam and is one 
of the stock-raisers of this 
county. At the present 
time he is County Com- 
missioner. 




30 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



victory over the Russians. Personally we favor Mr. Winkler's 
account of the naming. However it came by it, Alma has a 
beautiful and appropriate name of good old Latin derivation. 

As near as can be learned, the first white men to settle at 
Alma were Mr. Joseph Thoes and his brother, which was in 
the year of 1855. There was at that time to Mr. Thoes' knowl- 
edge five claims taken in the county. This was in January. 
In May of the same year a large company of the Germans 
arrived at Kansas City on their way west. A company had been 
formed in Cincinnati and this was the first division of the 
colony. They had been told at St. I>ouis that they could go to 
Kansas City and take the boat up the Kaw River. They were 
very much disappointed in not being able to do this and were 
about to disband when discovered by Joseph Thoes, who hap- 
pened to be in Kansas City to get supplies. He at once gave 




Commissioner •* 
W. K. BEACH. ^j 

Mr. Beach is an "Old "^ 
Timer." He located at 
Keene in 1856. Wouldn't 
tell us anything about 
himself, hated awfully 
to have this picture 
taken. He doesn't seem 
to believe in making 
"Graven images." 



W" 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



31 



up the idea of buying supplies on that trip, procured three ox 
teams in Westport and brought the whole colony out, bag and 
baggage. Mr. Metzer and Frank Schmidt each drove one of 
the teams. Mr. Thoes places the number of these people at 
about thirty, while other accounts say there were seventy, 
mostly young men, and that Ernest Honeke was their leader. 
It is hardly possible that two companies came in this year. 
The account which places the number at seventy says that those 
who came first laid out the grounds and prepared for the re- 
ception of those to follow, so it is possible that there were 
seventy in all, but only thirty in the first division. In a short 
time all the land within six or eighr miles of Alma had been 
taken. The other division came on. The first comers, who had 
expected to sell out their claims to the later arrivals at a good 
figure, were disappointed. So the bubble burst and two-thirds 



- Commissioner 
"=^ J. J. MAILS. 

The writer has lost 
the notes on this man, 
but sees by the memoran- 
dum that he is the only 
man from Wabaunsee 
who "signed up." 




32 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



of the settlers left. The towTi company went out of business. 
In 1857 the settlement was reinforced by a large colony direct 
from Germany. They formed a town company in St. Louis, 
chose Alma as a location and settled here. They also for- 
feited the right to the Townsite and it was pre-empted by Gott- 
leib Zwanziger, who had come in 1856. In 1858 improvements 
were made. Two mills were erected on Mill Creek, but high 
Avater washed them away the same year they were erected. This 
was the great flood year all over Wabaunsee County, but it was 
■especially destructive on Mill Creek, which during the high 
water was half a mile wide and from ten to twenty feet in 
depth. Settlers were driven from their homes and much prop- 
erty was destroyed. Only one life was lost, that of Mr. 
Moettcher, who was drowned while attempting to rescue Fred 
Steinmeyer and wife from their housetop. But worse than the 
flood of '59 was the drouth of '60, when all Kansas seemed for 




Oscar Schmitz 

County Attorney 

Mr. Schmitz was 
born at Alma, Decem- 
ber 26, 1875. He is a 
graduate of Dickinson 
County High School at 
Chapman, Kansas, and 
of the law course of the 
Kansas State Univer- 
sity. 

He is serving his sec- 
ond term as County At- 
torney. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



33 



a year and a half to be reverting into a desert. In 1861 the 
war broke out and not much progress was made while the men 
were at the front. When peace was established and affairs were 
running smoothly again, Alma was organized into a town. A 
meeting was held in '66 to determine the location. There was 
stx'ong rivalry between this place and the location out on Peter 
Thoes farm. Through the efforts of Hehry Schmitz and Gott- 
lieb Zwanziger, this place won when the vote was taken. The 
same year a petition was signed by Rudolph Arndt and one 
hundred and thirty-two others were presented at the January 
session of the County Commissioners for the permanent location 
of the County seat and Alma won out by twelve votes at the 
February election. Owing to the legality of the vote being ques- 
tioned, the matter was deferred to the next year. S. H. Fair- 
field tells of the election in 1867 and of the moving of the county 
seat. 



C. C. Stotler 

County Clerk 

Mr. Stotler was one 
of the men who knew it 
was no use to try and 
get away when we 
came after him for a 
contract to support this 
book. 




Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



"One beautiful spring day in 1867 a German was wander- 
ing among the hills of Mill Creek. Ho came upon the high bluff 
east of where the City of Alma now is. When he looked over 
the beautiful landscape spread out before him with wooded 
streams flowing into the valley from the north, south, and west, 
and the valley itself clothed in the verdure of spring, he thought 
he had never seen anything so lovely. As he gazed upon the 
picturesque scene before him it held him spellbound and he said, 
There in the valley is the place for the capital of Wabaunsee 
County and there it shall be. Wabaunsee on the banks of the 
Kaw, was the county seat and had been since the organization 
of the county. The young German who had declared that the 
capital of Wabaunsee County should be on Mill Creek, stirred 
up the settlers of the valley and they became enthusiastic like 
himself. He then made an alliance with the settlements south. 
Wabaunsee heard the mutterings and threatenings of the com- 




Frank Schmidt 

Sheriff. 

Mr. Schmidt served 
as Under Sheriff when 
Fred Frey was in of- 
fice. He was the first 
officer to sign up for 
ten of these books, 
thereby getting the rest 
of the Court House 
crowd into trouble. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



35 



ing struggle to wrest the County Seat from her and braced her- 
self for the conflict. She said that the people of the county 
never would vote to remove the County Seat from the Kaw 
Valley and locate it over among the hills of Mill Creek. The 
election came off" and the Dutch got away with the Yankees. 
The capital was located on a forty acres of a bare prairie cov- 
ered with blue stem grass nearly as high as a man's head and 
just where the young German said the future capital of the 
county should be. The name of the County Seat was called 
Alma — after the name of a territory that now composes the- 
townships of Washington, Garfield, Farmer, Mill Creek and. 
Alma. The Alma post-office, for the whole territory, was located, 
near what was called "Devil's Lookout," in Farmer Township, 
a one and one-half story frame building was erected for a court 
house, the room upstairs to be used for a court room and public 
gatherings. The front room below was used for a general store.- 



L. B. Burt. 

County Surveyor. 

Mr. Burt is tho 
County Surveyor, also 
Instructor in the Alma 
High Schools. He lives 
at Wabaunsee, but is 
not a historic charac- 
ter, except for the his- 
tory he made in hiding 
out to avoid being put 
in this book. 




^36 



Wabaunsee County Directory and Histoid 



and one of the rear rooms was used for a bed room for the em- 
ployes of the store. The other rooms, fourteen by twenty feet, 
was reserved for the county officers. A small two-room house 
used for a boarding house just south of the court house, and 
a blacksmith shop, were the only buildings of the new capital 
of Wabaunsee County. One cold day the last of December, 
1867, were seen two wagons coming over the hills from the 
north from Wabaunsee. In one wagon was a small safe, which 
held all the cash and valuable books that the county possessed. 
The other wagons carried the County Clerk and Treasurer and 
some miscellaneous papers and books. These composed all the 
property of Wabaunsee County, save a few books belonging to 




School House at Alma. 



Wabaimsee County Directory and History 37 



the Probate Judge's office. The wagons were driven to the rear 
of the court house, the Clerk and the Treasui-er took possession 
of the fourteen by twenty room assigned them. The small safe 
and the balance of the county's property were deposited in these 
small quarters, which were to be for the use of all the county 
officers. We took supper with Father Dirker and his good wife 
in their two-room hotel. At night we spread our blankets on the 
floor of the office and slept the sleep of the innocent. The in- 
habitants of the little city soon became restless and wanted 
more liberty than the fathers of the country were willing tO' 
grant them, and they applied to the authorities to be made a 
city of the third class, and it was granted them. But this was 
not the end. The obtaining of the County Seat is an important 
thing and the other towiis were not willing to let Alma have it 
without a dissenting voice. Every town then on the Wabaunsee 
County map entered the race. There was Dragoon, Wilmington, 
Zeandale, Maple Hill, Thoes Place, Newbury, and Eskridge. 
Some of these were the merest infants whose first cry was for 



F. M. Patterson 

Superintendent 

Mr. Patterson is Super- 
intendent of Alma Public 
Schools. He hasn't missed 
a year from the school- 
room since he was a child. 
His ability, together with 
his forty-five years of ex- 
perience makes him a val- 
uable man in his profes- 
sion. 




38 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



the County Seat. Gradually they all fell by the wayside until 
the final pull was between Alma and Eskridge. In 1871 Alma 
received a majority of the votes cast, for the third time and 
was declared the County Seat. In 1872 Alma, according to an 
agreement, built an $8,000 court house, which she turned over 
to the county. In 1869 there were four buildings in Alma, 
Schmitz & Meyer's store, Winkler's Hotel, Dierker's boarding 
house, and the court house." As the records speak of no other 
buildings, we infer that it was fashionable in Alma in those 
days to live in hotels and boarding houses. August 11th, of 
that year, the Alma debating society was formed with Henry 
Schmitz as President and N. H. Whittemore as Secretary, to 
decide serious public problems such as "Should Alma have a 
daily mail?" "What is the age of Ann?" etc. 

In 1870 a new colony from Pittsburg, Pa., located at Alma. 
Among the trials and tribulations of early Alma were the 
prairie fires, which were often disastrous. One particularly 




Looking north from Eugene Schmitz, on Street of Alma. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



39 



destructive fire occurred in 1875. Smallpox swept the settle- 
ment in '71. It first broke out in Templin in the family of 
Mr. Carl Falk. The germ had been brought on the clothing 
of Mr. Herman Fink, who came over from Germany on an in- 
fected ship. Nearly every family in Templin, Alma, and East 
Branch were down with it. A number of deaths occurred at 
each point, among those dying at Alma was N. H. Whittemore, 
County Attorney. 

We here quote another historical incident from Mr. Fair- 
field: "One little incident, however, I must relate which brought 
Alma into the public eye and put new life into the tovioi and 
eventually caused her to put on city airs. Large stone build- 
ings were erected and other improvements were made, and for 
the first time in her history her streets were sidewalked. The 
awakening of the little city from lethargy was on this wise: 
A well was being dug at the lower end of Missoui'i street. The 
workmen were promised a treat when they struck water. A 




Looking south from Hochkaus coi-ner on Street of Alma. 



40 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



strong vein was soon reached. The men left and went for the 
promised treat of beer. There was a kerosene barrel standing 
near the well with a little oil in it. A lady thought she would 
play a joke on the men while they were away enjoying the 
beer, so she emptied the few gallons of kerosene from the bar- 
rel into the well. When the men came back they smelled the 
kerosene and they were sure they had struck oil. They drew 
up a bucket and the top was covered with oil. The city paper 
announced that a vein of oil had been tapped in a well and that 
a stream poured out as large as a man's leg. The town went 
wild over the prospect. A company was formed, stock issued 
and hundreds of shares sold. The officers at Fort Riley took 
forty or more shares. Alma was in the 'lime light,' a noted 
naturalist from St. Louis came to the city and country around 
was thoroughly inspected to find the source of the wonderful vein. 
There wei-e some spiritualists in the city and they held a seance, 
and the medium was told by the spirits that there was a pocket 
of anthracite coal under the city and surrounding country. A 
map was made under the directions of the spirits, showing just 
where the, vein of coal lay. The spirits were often consulted as 
to how the rich deposit could be brought to the surface. The 
lady who perpetrated the joke by pouring the kerosene into the 
well became alarmed at the excitement she had stirred up and 
kept the joke a secret, and only told it to her husband." The 
effect of this little joke, over a quarter of a century ago, is felt 
by the city of Alma today, and will be for many years to come. 
The joke of priming the well with kerosene proved a costly one. 
The prospecting company boring for oil in the north part of 
town struck a salt vein at a depth of 600 feet, and proceeded 
to manufacture salt by evaporation. It was the grasshopper 
year and the vats became so thick with them that the salt was 
worthless. The company then tried boilers and turned out 
sixteen barrels per day; the water was 65 per cent salt. A 
Hutchinson company purchased the company's di'ill and struck 
the real thing. The Alma company went out of business. 
About this time the spirits got in their work through their 
medium. They induced a man to bore 2,000 feet into the earth 
to reach the pocket of coal. The drill passed through twelve 
veins of coal, which varied in thickness. The man then put 
down a shaft 600 feet, his money gave out and a halt was 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 41 



called. There was also a St. Louis company which tried for 
coal at Alma, and it is believed by Mr. Fairfield, who was very 
active in this matter, that if the matter had been properly 
worked it would have had fine results. Mr. Fairfield is the 
party who secured the land options which were used by this 
company. 

The Salt Works of which Mr. Fairfield speaks, once supplied 
salt to a great part of Kansas, and might have been doing it 
yet if they hadn't allowed Hutchinson to get their drill. The 
salt works at Alma shut down in 1876. Alma has another 
prospect for manufactories besides salt. There is the cement 
business. Alma was the first town in the United States to 
furnish Portland cement, which has since become one of the 
greatest enterprises in the whole country, and especially in Kan- 
sas. 

The growth along the educational line is shown by the build- 
ing of a high school building in 1875. The first newspaper was 
established at Alma in 1869. The oldest newspaper in the 
country is the Alma Enterprise, established in 1884. In 1886 
a newspaper gives an account of a meeting of the horticultural 
society which was holding regular meetings at that time. Fruit 
was no longer regarded a luxury, but a necessity. 

Returning to Alma's natural resources, a word should be 
said regarding the natural rock. It has been quarried for 
building purposes and makes excellent material. The Rock 
Island bridge at Topeka was built from Alma stone. 

Alma has made many improvements the last two years, 
among them is The Hochhans Block, the new Meyer Building, 
Oetinger Lumber Yards, the $15,000 High School Building, the 
Lutheran Church, which cost a like sum, and L. Undorf's new 
market. Besides these, many new residences have been erected. 
Every business place in Alma is occupied, and it is almost im- 
possible to rent a house. The walks on Missouri Street are 
cement and new cement walks are being laid on the back 
streets. 

Alma is the only town in the county that can put on enough 
metropolitan airs to have an automobile parade every evening. 
From the standpoint of appearance, it is one of the most pleas- 
ing towns in Kansas. It is well kept and neat. Missouri street 
is kept in good repair and lined with nice looking business blocks 



42 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



of native stone. There is an uniformity and grace about the 
town which is good to see. As well as being progressive and 
enterprising, the people of Alma are so friendly and pleasant 
to meet that a stranger at once feels at home among them. 



Mr. J. B. Cassidy, who keeps the dandy grocery store in the 
middle of the block, holds the enviable distinction of being the 
only Irishman in town. The claims of the real-estate man who 
seeks to deprive Mr. Cassidy of half this honor are not taken 
seriously by the grocer. 

Mr. Cassidy is one of the early settlers of Alma, having come 
before the railroad. By hard work and thrift he has accumu- 
lated considerable means. He is now serving his second term 
as Mayor of Alma. The fact that the Deutschers have twice 
united to elect the only Irishman in the town to the highest 
office in the gift of its citizens proves that "there is nothing too 
good for the Irish." 



August Falk, proprietor of the Alma Marble Works, operates 
the only establishment in his line in Alma. 

He has been in business for thirty years, and his work has 
won more than a local reputation. Mr. Falk has a large monu- 
ment trade at Herrington, where he spends a part of his time. 
He does fine work in native rock as well as in marble. He also 
takes contracts for cement work, and most of the cement walks 
in Alma are of his building. 

Mr. Falk was born in Groszerlang, Brandenburg, Germany, 
in 1849, and came to Wabaunsee County in 1870. He has al- 
ways lived at Alma. 



The firm who is said to be paying money to more people than 
any other firm in Alma is Freeman & Rose, who are engaged 
in the poultry and egg-buying business. They started last De- 
cember and since that time have done a cash business, averaging 
$1,000.00 per month. Owing to the increase in trade, it is al- 
ready necessary to enlarge their plant so as to accommodate a 
steadily increasing volume of business. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



43 



C. E. Carroll 

Carey E, Carroll, 
one of the prominent 
younger citizens of 
Alma, was born at 
Maplewood, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 15th, 1868. He 
was appointed Court 
Reporter of the Thirty- 
first Judicial District of 
Kansas, under Judge 
Wm. Thomson, where 
he remained eight 
years. During this time 
he read law and was 
admitted to the bar in 

1895. In November, 

1896, he was elected 
County Attorney of 
Wabaunsee County. 

Between 1898 and 
1907 Mr. Carroll served 
several terms as re- 
porter in the Appellate 
and Supreme Court at 
Topeka. For two years 
he was U. S. Marshal 
at Wichita. He has been a newspaper man of considerable 
merit and until recently was interested in several papers. 

Mr. Carroll is an extensive property owner in Alma, an active 
member of the Board of Education and of the City Council. 




The Electric Light Company was organized in the fall of 
1905 and the plant established. On December 21st everything 
was in readiness and the lights were officially turned on by 
Mayor Cassidy. The equipment was a fifty-horsepower simple 
automatic engine, a fifty-horsepower boiler and a fifty-kilowatt 

In October, 1906, Mr. W. B. Wilson bought out the other 
members of the company and took over the business. At that 
time the number of subscribers did not reach forty. In June, 
1907, there were sixty-three subscribers. 

The business is now growing beyond expectation, and Mr. 
Wilson will be obliged to rebuild at once. New machinery of 
greater capacity will be installed. 



44 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 




H. C. Stitcher 



H. C. Stitcher, editor 
of the Alma Signal, is 
one of the enterprising 
young men on which the 
future depends. He has 
been in Alma only two 
years, but has demon- 
strated clearly his ability 
as a newspaper man. He 
has lately been joined in 
his business by his broth- 
er, C. H. Stitcher. 



5. H. FAIRFIELD. 

S. H. Fairfield is one of the men who have been identified 
with the history-making of Wabaunsee County since he came to 
Kansas in 1856. He took part in the Civil War and Border 
Wars, serving in Company K of the Eleventh Kansas with 
honor and distinction. He has held many offices with credit, 
among them Postmaster in charge of the military mail for 
Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado in 1863; he was doorkeeper of 
the Senate and High Courts of Impeachment of Kansas in 
1861-2, County Clerk in 1856, County Treasurer from 1867-81, 
Register of Deeds for several years. For two years he was edi- 
tor and proprietor of the Alma Union and Trustee of Washburn 
College twenty-five years. The writer acknowledges a debt to 
him in compiling historical facts for this book. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



45 




W. G. Weaver 



Mr. W. G. Weaver, 
who is of New England 
birth, came to Wabaun- 
see with his parents in 
1868, before pioneer days 
were over. This was his 
place of residence until 
1895, when he was elect- 
ed Clerk of the District 
Court and moved to 
Alma. At the close of 
his four years' official 
term, Mr. Weaver went 
into the real estate and 
abstract business. His 
residence of thirty-eight 
years in the county ren- 
ders him particularly 
competent in both these 
lines of business — in the 
real estate business, be- 
cause he knows every piece of land in the county and is able to 
meet the individual wants and needs of his customers; m the 
abstract business, because he knows the history of every piece 
of land. The four years spent as Clerk of the District Court 
also gives him valuable knowledge on this point. Mr. Weaver 
Tias the only established abstract business in the county. He also 
handles a loan and insurance business. 



The Alma Enterprise, Sage & Little, editors and ovniers, is 
"the oldest paper now in the county, being established in 1884, 
and since absorbing the News, established in 1868, and the Alta- 
Vista Record. It has a list of 1,600 subscribers, by far the 
largest in the county. It put in the first power press, also the 
first gas engine in the country and was first to own its own 
home. Frank I. Sage, the senior partner, is a printer of thirty- 
five years' experience, and the fame of his excelleiit work is 
known over several adjacent counties. O. W. Little, the junior 
member, is a native born son of the county, and for nearly four 
years was Deputy County Clerk. He was largely instrumental 
in establishing the Wabaunsee County Historical Society, the 
first county society in the State, and is its present secretary. 

The Enterprise is Republican in politics and has always stood 
for what was best in the gi-owth and upbuilding of the city 
and county. 



46 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 




A. & P. Schmitz, Poland-Chinas 



Among the prominent breeders of Wabaunsee County are 
Arthur and Paul Schmitz, who are of Alma. They have been 
raising Poland-China hogs for the past four years. They have 
a herd of about one hundred and forty pigs. The young pigs 
are sold each year to farmers and stockmen for breeding pur- 
poses. They w^ill have about eighty for sale this year. 

The Schmitz Brothers are also getting a start in registered 
Hereford cattle. They have about a dozen head as a beginning 
and intend to increase their herd. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



47 




OETINQER LUMBER CO. 

Among the new men who have come to Alma and established 
a business, of which the little city is proud, is Wm. Oetinger, 
Pi'esident and Treasurer of the Oetinger Lumber Co. The 
Oetinger Lumber Co. owns yards at Harveyville and Alma. The 
yards were established April 15th, 1906. The above is a cut of 
the buildings put up at that time. The Harveyville yard was 
bought of the Harveyville Lumber Co. in 1906. These two yards 
are about equal in capacity, and a large business, running up to 
about $30,000, is transacted at each point. 

All kinds of building material, including lumber, rough and 
dressed, shingles, lath, posts, lime and cement are dealt in. Coal 
and brick are also handled at the Alma yards. The different 
kinds of lumber handled are the yellow or Southern pine, the 
white pine, and redwood from California, fir from Oregon, cedar 
from Washington, cypress from Louisiana, and oak fi-om Mis- 
souri. Mr. Oetinger is an experienced lumberman. He came to 
Alma from Riley, where he had been in the lumber business for 
fifteen years. He has energy and enterprise, and is doing his 
share to promote the interests of his city and county. 

The Oetinger Lumber Co. is incorporated under the laws of 
the State of Kansas, and its officers are Wm. Oetinger, President 
and Treasurer; W. G. Means, Vice-President; J. E. Edgerton, 
Secretary. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 




J. B. Fields 



One man who has a 
system for keeping the 
boys on the farm, which 
beats all the "sage ad- 
vice" ever printed, is Mr. 
J. B. Fields, real estate 
dealer in Aima. Mr. 
Fields realizes that one 
way to increase the de- 
mand for real estate is to 
make farmers. To this 
end he manages various 
contests — one of these 
the corn contest. M**- 
Fields furnishes seed- 
corn lo all boys of Wa- 
baunsee County who care 
to go into the contest. 
Some of this corn of the 
new varieties costing 
$1.00 for three quarts. 
Twenty prizes will be given to the boys raising the best corn. 
The prizes are given by the business men of the county and 
are of an educational nature, such as a trip to Manhattan to 
inspect the live-stock and farming methods. The object is to 
teach the boys the very best kind of farming. Mr. Fields has 
been in Alma in the real estate business since 1892. He is an 
extensive real estate owner himself a;nd pastures 1,800 head of 
cattle. He was the first Sha\vnee Insurance agent in Wabaun- 
see County, and is still in the insurance business. 



Alma has three banks, the oldest of these The Alma National. 
It has a capital of $50,000, a surplus of $20,000 and is especially 
well backed by the following substantial directors : Fred Reuter, 
President, is a retired farmer, but still retains about 1,500 acres 
of choice real estate, besides his homestead. Mr. J. L. Shepp 
owns 4,000 acres of land in Farmer Township and in Lyons 
County. C. G. Willig, of Pavilion, who is considered one ot the 
wealthiest men of the county, owns a large area of valuable 
land. Mr. C. Thomson owns town real estate and a general store. 
Geo. Huber, manufacturer of hand-made boots and shoes. Mr. 
J. C. Goetzbach owns one of the largest stores in the county, 
also a fine farm. Philip F. Johnson, an old settler and retired 
farmer, has considerable money in property and stocks. Mr. J. 
R. Henderson is the cashier of the bank. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



49 




Dr. George W. B. 
Beverly 

U. S. Pension Exam- 
iner. 

County Health Officer. 

Coroner for the past 
two years. 

Offices fitted with latest 
equipment, including 
X-Ray Machine. 

Has an extensive prac- 
tise over the entire 
county. 















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Mr. R. M. Buck, of near Eskridge, is one of the stock-raisers 
of great enterprise. He is making Poland-China hogs a specialty 
and his herd of one hundred head contains some very valuable 
animals, including some prize-winners. 

Mr. Buck has a herd of fifty Shorthorn cattle, one of which 
was a prize-winner at the Kansas City Royal Stock Show. 

Mr. Buck is also a breeder of Barred Plymouth Rock Chick- 



50 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Knostman Clothing Co. 




MEN'S 



Ready-Made 

Clothing and 
Furnishings 



Shoe Emporium 

Latest Styles in all 
Goods. 



Q. H. Meier. 

Photographer. 

Mr. Meier is a Portrait 
and View Photographer 
permanently located at 
Alma, with branch galler- 
ies at Alta Vista and Pax- 
ico. He can be found — 

First Saturday of each 
month at Alta Vista. 

Third Saturday of each 
month at Paxico. 

Pictures copied and en- 
larged in India Ink, Cray- 
on, Water Color and Pas- 
tel. 




Wabaiaisee County Directory and History 



51 



AMavisto. 



Banks. 

AltaVista State Bank. 
Peoples State Bank. 

Barbers. 

City Barber Shop. 
Fred Kriiger. 



BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 

Lumber Yards, 

The Wohlgast Lumber Co. 

Meat Market. 
Union Thomas. 

Millinery. 



Carpenters and Contractors. 

Syring Bros. 

Dentists. 

Dr. F. C. Gale. 

Furniture Store. 

Otto Wolgast. 

General Stores. 

Alexander & Son. 
J. N. Bolton. 
Gantz Bros. 
W. F. Kahle. 
Star Mercantile Co. 

Hardware and Machinery. 

A. H. Wolgast. 

Hotels. 

Fairview Hotel. 
Farmers Hotel. 

Jewelry and Notions. 
Chris Johnson. 



Doiill Millinery Co. 
Mrs. Dollie Houghton. 

Music Store. 

Olney Music Co. 

Newspapers. 

AltaVista State Journal^ 

Notary Public. 

P. Hawes. 

Physicians and Surgeon. 

Dr. W. H. Little. 

Produce Dealer. 

Joe Hampton. 

Real Estate Dealer.. 

A. H. Meseke. 

Restaurants. 

City Restaurant. 
L. E. Paetke. 



■ 52 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 

AltaVista is a very active, enterprising town of almost 
five hundred people, on the Main line of the Rock Island. It is 
situated in the southwest corner of Wabaunsee County, just at 
the junction of three counties, and draws a large amount of 
trade from each, there being no other town of importance be- 
tween Alma and Herington. Besides the town trade, Altavista 
has a steady trade of about 560 country families. To the South 
and West is a vast area of level farming lands. The increasing 
prosperity of the farmers has caused the population and busi- 
ness of Altavista to double within the last four years. The 
:town is booming, but the boom has the firm reliable backing of 
a rapidly developing farming community to sustain it. 

EARLY HISTORY OF ALTAVISTA. 

The earliest account obtainable concerning Altavista is the 
establishment of the town in 1886. The surrounding territory 
onust have been settled many years before, but no account of 
it was ever learned. 

Matt Thompson says that Pike was laid out in October, 1886, 
by W. D. Deans; that shortly after the name was changed to 
Cable City, and in March, 1887, changed again to Altavista. 
In an old 1887 map, the name appears as Cable City. The ac- 
count obtained from citizens of Altavista is to the eifect that 
the town was laid out by C. Langvart, who sold lots enough to 
start in the stock business and thus become wealthy. P. Hawes 
had previously homesteaded a piece of land which is now the 
part of the townsite, from the depot south. Geo. Wolff had 
homesteaded what is now north part of town. 

The town was laid out in 1886 and building began in the 
winter of '89. 

A party by the name of Messenber built the first bull Ung. 
Steve Hoog, Gantz Brothers, and Sattell were some of the first 
people to build and start in business. Mr. Kahle, who has a 
general store at the present time, did the carpenter work on 
many of the early buildings. L. J. Woodward, Richardson & 
Fisher, and the firm of Kistler and Arndt are also among the 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 53 



pioneer business men of Alavista. M. L. Hull was the pioneer 
lumberman. He was bought out a few years ago by Wm. Wol- 
gast. 

There is an old landmark not far from Altavista, in the 
shape of a stone fort, built on the farm of August Wolgast in 
1864 in anticipation of a raid from the Kaw reservation. Sixty- 
four was a very anxious time on the border. The Kiowas and 
Cheyennes were on the warpath and the restlessness of the 
Kaws caused much apprehension among the whites. In the 
same year the settlers of Harveyville "hid out" in the corn- 
fields for fear of an Indian outbreak. However, the Kaws 
stayed at home and the strong stone fort was not needed. It 
is quite a curiosity today. 

There is an old proverb, "Happy is the nation that has no 
history." Applying that to the towns in Wabaunsee County, 
AltaVista is a happy place indeed, for we were able to gather 
very little, except that the little town has always been pros- 
perous. There was no stories of hard times, as was heard from 
the earlier settled places. This may be because the town did 
not appear on the map until after the "big drowth" and the 
two grasshopper years were over. There is a tradition that 
AltaVista was struck by a cyclone about two years ago. If it 
was, the town certainly does not look it now. It is all 
together again and steaming away at a rate that looks like 
business. There are no vacant store rooms or dwellings to be 
found. Neither are there any idle men. The railroad rock 
crusher gives steady employment to a large number of hands. 

Cream is an important product, and the weekly shipment 
avei'ages one thousand pounds a week. 

Corn is the principal grain, although all grains are raised 
to some extent. Hogs and cattle are raised in large herds.^ 
There are five men near Altavista engaged in breeding regis- 
tered stock. Cattle feeding on the hills north and east is quite 
extensive. This is one of the principal points in the county 
where Texas cattle are unloaded for pasturage. This territory 
is well watered and especially adopted for stock-raising. 

As its name indicates, Altavista is built on a high location. 
Fi-om a hill a short distance away Alma and other distant points 
can be seen very distinctly. 



54 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 




— THE- 



Altavista State Bank 

AltaVista, Kans. 



Capital and Surplus, 
$15,000.00. 

Resources of Stockhold- 
ers, over $200,000. 



DIRECTORS. 

A. H. Meseke, 
President. 

Otto Wolgast, 
Vice-President. 

W. C. A. Meseke, 
Cashier. 

Herman Arndt, 
A. H. Wolgast. 



J. N. Bolton 

AltaVista, Kans 



Dry Goods, Ladies' and 
Gents' Furnishings. 



"Black Cat" Hosiery. 

Shoes for Men and 
Boys, "Julia Mar- 
lowe" for Women. 

Staple and Fancy 
Groceries. 




Wahamisee County Directory and History 



55 





THE PEOPLE'S STATE BANK, ALTAVISTA, KANSAS. 

This bank owns its own building, as shown in cut, and is 
absolutely protected against fire, etc. As the name indicates, 
this bank was created "by the people for the people." The stock- 
holders consist of the best and most wealthy people in the com- 
munity, aggregating a value of over one-fourth million dollars, 
thus making it one of the most safe and substantial institutions. 
When in our city make this your headquarters; we will treat 
you honorably as well as honestly. We respectfully solicit your 
patronage. 

H. F. DiERKiNG, President. Wm. Addie, Cashier. 

Directors: J. W. Spencer, U. Thomas, V. G. Slack, Ross 
Cooper, S. P. Snodgrass. 



ANDREW BROTHERS 

Andrew Brothers, who maintain a well-kept livery, a dray 
and transfer, are new men in Altavista, having bought out the 
old-established business of A. P. McLain about a year ago, which 
consisted of seventeen head of fine horses. Several carriages 
and wagons are a part of the equipment, and are kept constantly 
in good order. 



56 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 





View of the Ranch of John W. Naylor, Altavista, breeder of registered and 
high-grade Hereford Cattle. Herefords of the leading strains — Anxietys, Archi- 
balds, Columbus, and Acrobats. 



WOLGAST LUHBER CO. 

Among the people who figure in the building of a town is 
the man who furnishes the wherewithal to build. Mr. William 
Wolgast, who went into the lumber business in 1902 has fur- 
nished most of the lumber used. In 1904 he bought out M. L. 
Hull & Son, pioneer lumberman of Altavista. Having the two 
yards, Mr. Wolgast was then well equipped to handle all the 
lumber the town needs. In 1905 Herman Wolgast, brother of 
the lumberman, bought a half interest in the lumber yards and 
the business has since been conducted under the name of the 
Wolgast Lumber Co. The bulk of the lumber handled is yellow 
pine from Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. Most of the finish is 
bought in Oregon. The trade is in Altavista and tributary 
country. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



57 



W. H. H. Smith, M. D. 

W. H. H. Smith, M. D., 
and a registered drug- 
gist, of AltaVista, Kan- 
sas, was born at Jersey- 
ville, Illinois, April 6, 
1858, and came to Kan- 
sas in 1890, beginning 
the practise of medicine 
at Eureka, but came to 
AltaVista in 1897, suc- 
ceeding Dr. E. W. El- 
dridge in the practise of 
medicine and the drug 
business. By hard work 
and close attention to 
business the doctor has 
built an enviable reputa- 
tion as a physician, be- 
sides making his drug- 
store the most attractive 
and complete of any in 
the county. The doctor 
will soon retire from ac- 
tive practise of his pro- 
fession and take life easy 
at his counti-y home, one 
of the most beautiful quarter sections in Wabaunsee County, 
just four miles east of to^vn. 

Dr. W. H. H. Smith was graduated from the University of 
Valparaiso, Indiana, taught school twelve years, the last five 
years of which time he was State Teachers' Institute instructor; 
attended the Missouri Medical College one year, was graduated 
from the Northwestern Medical College, St. Joseph, Mo., 1890; 
was married to Maria Rhodes, of Effingham, 111., February 22d, 
1882, four children being born to this union — Grover Eugene, 
graduate of the pharmacy department of the University of Val- 
paraiso, in 1906, now has a position in the laboratory depart- 
ment of the Smith Drug Company, Salt Lake City, Utah; Her- 
man, 19 years of age, and a student of the State University of 
Lawrence ; and Dewey and Wm. H. H., two youngest of the four 
children. 




58 



Wabauyisee County Directory and History 



A. H. Meseke 

Among the young 
men whose enterprise is 
giving Altavista new life 
and impulse is A. H. Me- 
seke. He is the son of 
Herman and Carolin-e 
Meseke and was born in 
Wabaunsee County, 
April 18th, 1879. He at- 
tended common school ai; 
Templin and at the age 
of 13 entered the Salina 
University, whei-e he 
completed the commer- 
cial course in 1895. He 
entered the Alma State 
Bank (now the Alma 
National Bank) , at 
Alma, Kansas, as book- 
keeper and was later 
elected Assistant Cash- 
ier. In 1900, A. H. Me- 
seke, with others, organ- 
ized the Altavista State 
Bank at Altavista and 
opened a real estate of- 
fice. Januaiy, 1905, he was elected President of the Altavista 
State Bank. September, 1904, he was married to Miss Lillian 
E. Simon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Simon, of Alma, 
Kansas. 




KISTLER & ARNDT 

Probably the most important factors in the development of a 
town are the men who started in business with the town and 
stayed with iit through good and bad. Such a business is the 
Hardware Store of Kistler & Arndt, which started the same year 
Altavista was established, under the name of J. B. Kistler, j. S. 
Kistler owning an interest in it. The business prospered with 
the town and under careful management has greatly enlarged. 
In 1906 the interest owned by J. B. Kistler was bought by J. S. 
Kistler and Herman Arndt and the firm name became Kistler 
& Arndt. This store handles the latest and most up-to-date ap- 
pliances in farm machinery and tools as well as the usual hard- 
ware stock. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



59 




UNION THOMAS' MEAT MARKET 

Union Thomas entered business in Altavista in 1888. Sold 
meat in connection with restaurant. Closed restaurant business 
in 1890 and continued meat market. In 1897 Mr. Thomas dug 
an ice-pond north of town, from which he gets not only his own 
supply of ice, but also supplies his customers. The ice from 
this pond is pure as well water. 



We have been requested to mention Miss Addis, of Topeka, 
Kansas, in this book. She is the only lady jeweler in this part 
of the country and her place of business has won fame on ac- 
count of having a contract for many of the precious articles 
which have so recently taken an advance. This is the one rea- 
son why she has been credited with the extreme amount of 
sales, of which a large portion has gone into the new homes in 
Wabaunsee County. She invites everyone to make her place 
of business (817 Kansas Avenue) their headquarters while in 
the City. She handles very rich cut glass, hand-painted china, 
watches, clocks, diamonds, silverware, latest novelties and sou- 
venirs. Wedding-rings are made to order. Courteous treat- 
ment is said to be the pride of this house. Miss Addis prides 
herself in having the finest line of Christmas presents in the 
city. A lady jeweler is not often herd of and should be encour- 
aged. Expert repair department. Old jewelry made new. 



60 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Bakery, 

Meyers & Gee. 

Banks. 



Eskridge State Bank. 
Security State Bank. 

Barber-Shops. 

City Barber Shop. 
Star Barber Stiop. 

Blacksmith. 
Fred Baker. 

Carpenter. 

W. H. Peet. 

Dentist. 

Dr. A. H. Reynard. 
C. A. Kraus. 

Drays. 

Beacli & Bashor. 
Mace Bros. 

Druggists. 

E. R. Brown. 
J. G. Trueblood. 

Dry Goods and Groceries. 

H. Hersberger. 
N. E. Reed. 

Flour Feed and Coal. 

Miller & Son. 
K. C. Berry. 

Furniture and Undertaking. 
Geo. D. West. 



BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 

General Merchandise. 

Mudge Mercantile Co. 
W. A. Harris. 

Hardware and Machinery. 

W. A. Waugh. 

Hotels. 

Palace Hotel. 
Merideth Hotel. 

Jeweler. 

N. N. Spaukling. 

Lawyers. 

.T. R. Moreland. 
J. E. Martin. 

Livery. 

Martin Schwartz. 

Lumber Yards. 

S. B. Chapman. 
D. Worden. 

Meat Market. 

Wm. Parmiter. 

Millinery. 

Kelley Sisters. 
Mrs. Anna Mears. 



Newspapers. 

The Eskridge Star. 
Wabaunsee County Tribune- 

Paint. 
Robertson Paint Co. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



61 



Painters and Paper Hangers. 
C. D. Marshall. 

Potographers. 
Easter's Photograph Gallery. 
Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. C. William Walker. 
Dr. M. F. Trivett. 
Dr. A. L. Lemon. 

Pumps. 

S. M. Handley. 



Real Estate Dealers. 

F. L. McCoy. 
C. C. Moreland. 
W. H. Melrose. 

Restaurants. 

T. A. Endsley. 

Sells Everything. 

Wm. Trustier. 
W. H. Earl. 



The town is located on a plateau 1,700 feet above sea level. 
A range of hills rises to the north and west, from which Esk- 
ridge looks like a grove with a church in it, so completely is it 
covered by the foliage of its trees. Situated near the head of 
four streams, the Dragoon, Mission Creek, Mill Creek, and Elm 
Creek, this town has a large area of rich country tributary to 
it and its nearness to Topeka and Kansas City makes these 
lands very valuable for all kinds of special and general farming. 

Eskridge is an important shipping point. It is the center 
of the greatest Shorthorn district in the world. There are 
about 1,000 head of pedigreed cattle within a radius of twenty 
miles. Some of these animals are woi-th thousands of dollars. 

The whole town has a well-kept, thrifty appearance. Its 
business blocks are substantially built of native stone or brick. 
Unlike Alma, it never had a boom of any sort to string its 
nerves up to a tension, and then let them down, but has enjoyed 
a steady growth from the beginning. 

Eskridge has unusual educational advantages for a town of 
its size. Besides its excellent graded and high schools, it is 
the fortunate possessor of a university which reflects great 
credit on the town. This is the Wesleyan University, a Bible 
School founded in 1901, by men of lofty ideas and great faith, 
and ambitious to make it the foremost institution of its kind 
in the United States. Many people do not realize the value of 
a college to a town. Aside from a matter of culture, a college 



62 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



always brings money and business to the locality, not only in 
what the attending students spend, but in donations and gifts, 
the benefit of which the community receives in the end. 

THE FIRST ESKRIDGE. 

The history of Eskridge begins with the establishment of 
what is now called East Eskridge, in 1861, two years after 
the county seat fight came up. With characteristic enterprise 
Eskridge at once got into the game, although she had only one 
house at the time. By an offer of a court house square and a 
building to be donated to the use of the county, Eskridge at the 
election, February 7th, 1871, polled 256 votes against 269 for 
Alma, 217 for Newbury, and 2 for Wabaunsee. 

The race was now between Eskridge and Alma. Another 
election was called three weeks later, and Eskridge lost to Alma 
by thirty-six votes. 

It was in this year that Col. Ephraim H. Sanford, the 
founder of Eskridge, started a paper called the Landmark. 
This was the second paper established in the county. The 
press and other material was brought from Emporia and had 
been the property of a man by the name of Eskridge, for whom 
Sanford named his town. We have said his town, because he 
founded it on his own land, of which he ov^med six or seven hun- 
dred acres in the vicinity. He was a man of great energy and 
enterprise, and had apparently made a success of everything 
he undertook. 

He held many offices of honor and won distinction in politics 
and war. His strenuous temperament is nowhere more promi- 
nent than in his loyalty to his own town. According to his 
idea, Eskridge was the central point of the whole globe — ac- 
cording to his map, all railroads lead to and from Eskridge, 
and according to the pictures in the Lank Mark, heavy steam- 
ers plied the Dragoon, and unloaded their commerce at Eskridge 
landing. Colonel Sanford was Postmaster for over twenty years 
and must have been appointed in the early '60s. 

Dr. M. F. Trivett and Wm. Earl, who are both live wires in 
modern Eskridge, lived in East Eskridge in the early days. Dr. 
Trivett was the first man in the vicinity to own a buggy. Wm. 
Earl kept a stock of general merchandise from the time the 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 63 



town first started. He was not only the first merchant in Esk- 
ridge, but he has been in business longer than any merchant 
in the county. 

Under the strenuous efforts recounted above, the town as- 
sumed village-like proportions and in 1880 had two hotels, two 
livery-barns and several stores. The population was between 
400 and 500. 

About this time the Santa Fe surveyed for a road to take 
the place of the old trail. Bonds were voted all along the line 
and tradition has it that a load of hop tea was sent to Harvey- 
ville and that a few cold ones found their way to Eskridge. 
The writer does not believe it. It is true, however, that after 
the road was built the people along the route were given an 
excursion on the flat freight cars, previously used for hauling 
dirt. The people were game and went. The train stopped at 
every corner, and even in the middle of the block if anyone 
wanted to get on. It rained as usual and rained hard. 

Instead of all railroads leading to Eskridge, the only one 
which did go through, "passed by on the other side" of Colonel 
Sanford's town, and the little burg had to move over to the 
west. Dr. Trivett was first to move his residence. He also 
built the first building. W. H. Earl moved his store building, 
and built the first new store. 

Within three years the town had grown considerably and the 
surrounding country was being rapidly developed. Eskridge 
was shipping great quantities of hay for which $3 per ton was 
being received. 

In 1882 the first paper in the new town "Home Weekly," 
was moved from Alma by W. W. Cone. This was the second 
of the six papers Eskridge has supported at different times. 
The rest are The Eskridge Star, issued in 1883 by Mitchell F. 
Fowd and owned at present by Don Busenbark; Wabaunsee 
County Democrat, Dr. Platte, editor — which lasted a few weeks 
— a little longer than Democrats do in Kansas; The Eskridge 
Sun, A. A. Graham, editor, issued 1888; The Eskridge Tribune, 
Frank Hartman, editor, issued in 1900; The Wabaunsee County 
Tribune, 1900, by Seaman & Carrol. 

In 1890 Eskridge had the misfortune of being visited by a 
destructive fire. All the west side between Trusler's and 



64 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Mi;dge's were burned. E. L. Shumate & Son, W. H. Mills, J. 
W. Taylor, and Parmiter & Son were the principal sharers in 
a $25,000 loss. 

It was about this time that a new era of prosperity began. 
The hardships of pioneer life disappeared and people began to 
have all comforts of life. By this time nearly every farmer had 
a nice orchard. Fine new homes replaced the small houses put 
up when "getting a start." Large barns were built to accom- 
modate the produce from improved farms. The effect was soon 
seen in the growth of the towns and in the volume of business 
transacted. 

To-day Eskridge is the second largest town in the county, 
and is known far and wide as a "fine town for business." About 
the only drawback to the place is the poor railroad accommoda- 
tions. This condition promises to be remedied by the new rail- 
road, the Topeka and Southwestern, which promises to go 
through before the close of 1907. 



Private and Company Farm Insurance 

Money to Loan. a Specialty. 



C. C. MO RE LAND, 

ESKRIDGE, KANS. 



Lands, Loans, and Insurance. 



I have farms listed for sale, any size you desire ; also ranches 
and town property. Eskridge is a clean, high-class town of about 
nine hundred population, and growing. It is the best business 
center for a place of its size in the State of Kansas. 

We have a first-class High School, the educational center of 
the county; any churches, one railroad and another now build- 
ing. Rural delivery and telephone system complete. Land can 
be purchased from $10 to $60 per acre, owing to location and 
quality. Will drive to any part of the county. 

Will buy, sell or trade land or personal property. 

Collections made on reasonable terms. Phone No. 44. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 65 



H. Hershberger 

Eskrid^e, Kans. 



- SELLS— 



High Ouality Merchandise 



—AND BUYS 



Farm Produce. 



When you buy what is best, you buy but 

seldom; When you buy what is cheap, 

you are buying: all the time. 



66 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 

W. H. EARL, Eskridge, Kans. 

The oldest pioneer merchant in Wabaunsee County. For 
forty years we have been supplying the wants of the people in 
the southern half of Wabaunsee County in the general mer- 
chandise business. We carry everything the farmers want in a 
general way. Have been here all these years and have satisfied 
thousands upon thousands of customers in the line of Groceries, 
Dry Goods, Ladies* and Gents' Furnishings, the famous brand 
of Sunflower Shoes, Crockery, Queensware, Clothing, etc. We 
buy Flour, Feed, and Salt in car-load lots and sell the best of 
everything at the lowest possible price. Call and get prices. 
Highest prices paid for all kinds of produce. 



USE BROWN^S HEALING FLUID 

for all wire-cuts and other wounds. It can be used with the 
least trouble and leaves the smallest scar possible. Your neigh- 
bor has used it; ask him if he has ever found a better remedy 
for healing purposes. It is a strong antiseptic and germicide 
used extensively by farmers and stockmen. Price, 25 cents, 50 
cents and $1 a bottle. 

E. R. BROWN, Drugfgist, /. Eskridgfe, Kans. 



S. M. HANDLEY 

Eskridge, Kans. 

Dealer in Wind- 
mills, Pumps. 
Power Mills, and 
Gasoline Engines, 
Bathtubs and 
Kitchen - sinks, 
Steel Tanks and 
Wooden Tanks. 
Agent for the De 
Laval Separator, 
the best on earth ; 
also oil for same. 




Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



67- 



BUSINESS 

Banks. 

Harvej'ville State Bank. 

Barbers. 

Wm. Grigsby. 
Ed Teel. 

Cream Stations. 

Charles Droege. 
Burt Bonner. 

Contractors of Brick, Stone 
and Piaster Work. 

Wetzel & Duff. 

Dry Goods. 
J. R. Turner. 

Drug Store. 

Dr. L. A. Walker. 

Elevators. 

Garringer, Ferrel & Co. 
Osage Grain and Elevator Co. 

Furniture Stores. 

M. P. Cook. 

Groceries. 

Earley & Root. 
Heinlein Bros. 
Jas. S. May. 



DIRECTORY. 

Hardware. 

A. E. Copp. 

Thompson Hardware Co,. 

Harness. 

J. T. Fields. 

Hotels. 

Santa Fe House. 

Livery Stable.. 

J. A. Beauchamp. 

Lumber Yards. 

Oetinger Lumber Co. 

Meat Market. 

Ferrel & Goodklns. 

Newspapers. 

Harveyville IVTonitor. 

Physicians. 

Dr. C. L. Youngman. 

Real Estate Dealers. 

A. A. Denney. 
S. B. Easter. 



Restaurants.. 



M. L. Ray. 
J. T. Bliss. 



68 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Harveyville is a town of about 450 people, in an excellent 
location. For miles around are the rich flats of the Dragoon, 
where the country population has become wealthy. The cattle 
and hog business is the principal money-making occupation, al- 
though large shipments of produce and cream are continually 
being made. There are two "cream days" each week, and on 
these days the trade is very heavy at Harveyville, and there 
isn't room on the streets to accommodate the teams of the pa- 
trons. 

EARLY HISTORY. 

Although the town of Harveyville was not founded until the 
'Coming of the Santa Fe Railroad, the history of Harvey settle- 
ment dates back to 1854, when Henry Harvey and his two sons 
took land on the Dragoon. The next year a claim was taken 
up by I. M. Harris not far from the present site of Harveyville. 
The Pitman and Gilbert families and Morris Walton also set- 
tled in the vicinity about this time. The Harveyville territory 
was settled along the rich bottoms where there was plenty of 
moisture and little danger of destructive high water. 

In these days it was a custom to winter in Missouri, because 
there was nothing to eat in Kansas. The Indians were a great 
annoyance, not that they were dangerous, but they pestered the 
settlers continually with their begging. Even with the excel- 
lent natural conditions in this section it was hard getting a start. 
The outlook for good crops was often spoiled by drouth, grass- 
hoppers, or prairie-fires. 

In 1857 the slavery question was warm and there was a 
general influx of settlers to Kansas. A number of people came 
to Harveyville settlement. Among them was Joseph Johnson, 
who took a claim on the Dragoon where he is still located. For 
many years he was the only carpenter, and he built all the first 
houses in Wimington and Harveyville. He manufactured all 
the window- and door-casings, flooring and finishing material 
from rough lumber by hand. 

The first Fourth of July celebration in this vicinity was held 
in 1857. 

There were no railroads west of the Mississippi. Goods wei'e 
hauled to Kansas City and the settlers went there to buy. In 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 69^ 



summer it was bad enough, but in winter these trips were per- 
ilous. Gradually the market become more convenient. First it 
was moved to Leavenworth, where there was no longer neces- 
sity of crossing the river, next to Atchison, then Lawrence and 
Topeka, and finally to Burlingame. Ox teams were used exclu- 
sively, as the ox is a better pioneer than the horse or mule. 
Aside from the fire and floods, and the natural hardships attend- 
ing the settlement of a new country, the tenor of the Harvey- 
villits way has been tolerably even. The Undergound Rail- 
way ran through the Harvey settlement and the good house- 
wives were often called out at night to get supper for two men 
and ask no questions. 

In 1858 a mail station was established on the Dragoon and 
was kept at Dodge and Saunders. The stage coach of 1858, 
such as traveled the Santa Fe Trail south of Harvey Settle- 
ment, is described as a massive affair with a large boot attached 
behind for baggage. It was generally drawn by mules. 

Sod corn was the principal crop. It was planted by chop- 
ping a hole in the sod of fresh-broken prairie and dropping the 
seed in. Those who were fortunate enough to have cows, made 
money by selling butter in Kansas City. 

What little progress was made by 1860 was given a serious 
set-back that year by the drouth. No rain fell for a year and 
six months. Many settlers were discouraged and i-eturned home. 
War broke out and took the strength of the country to the 
front. Those who remained at Harveyville joined Company A 
of the Osage Battalion. Company A drilled at Wilmington, 
This battalion was not ordered into service till 1865, when it 
was sent to Missouri. They marched to Kansas City and took 
part in the "Battle of the Blue," where the advance orders were 
not to shoot, whatever happened. 

After the war came the grasshoppers, whose visit is de- 
scribed in another part of this book. When the pest arose the 
third day, leaving barren desolation behind, starvation stared 
the people in the face. Henry Harvey went to Ohio to solicit 
aid and was successful. Provisions and clothing were sent tO' 
Atchison and hauled from there to the settlers. 

The next stirring event was the Pike's Peak gold fever. The 
Santa Fe Trail was alive with traffic. Men came in all manner 



70 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



of conveyances, and even on foot, pushing wheel-barrows or 
carrying grips. 

In 1874 there was another serious drouth. Ohio was agai.a 
appealed to, and responded generously. Mr. Joseph Fields did 
the soliciting and managed the distribution of the goods. 

This brings us down to the time when the Santa Fe Rail- 
road came to the place of the trail at Harveyville — in 1880. 
The day the bonds were voted in Harvey Settlement, a wagon- 
load of hop-tea was sent by the railroad company as a gentle 
persuader. Then the town was laid out. Some years before 
this a townsite had been located about a mile north of the pres- 
•ent site, called Lexington, but no lots were sold. 

The land where Harveyville stands was first taken under 
military law, as a bounty from the Government to Te Par Kee, 
minor child of Eme Eman Thluseca, Corporal of Captain Hopie 
Haarjus, Company A, Creek Volunteer of Seminole War. Sam- 
uel B. Harvey obtained the land from the child's guardian, and 
it was granted to him as a patent, which was sio;ned by Presi- 
dent Buchanan in 1860. Later it was sold to Morris Walton 
and this deed is one of the earliest on record in the country. 

The first man to start into business in the new town was 
Alpheus Glasscock. John Thompson soon followed Glasscock 
was a store building. George Woods and Eli Henderson oper- 
ated an elevator and hay-baling establishment. George Woods 
built a store and put in a fine stock of hardware. Walton Bros, 
kept a general store. 

This was the beginning but it was ten years before Harvey- 
ville was able to hold her own trade which was going to Bui'- 
lingame, and it is only within the last few years that people 
have ceased to consider an ocasional shopping trip to Bur 
lingame necessary. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



71 




Saringer-Farrell Elevator Co., deals in all kinds of grain and elevator stuff, and 
in Meat Meal. Located at Harveyville, Kansas. 



The Thompson Hardward Co., of Harveyvil'e 

started in their present business January 20th, 1905. In May 
of that year the business done amounted to $334.90. The busi- 
ness for May, 1906, was $1,072.42. The business for May, 1907, 
was $2,945.00. The groAvth should be noted. They are building 
a large stone store into which they will move this fall, and where 
they will continue to handle everything found in a first-class 
hardware store, including cutlery, silverware, ammunition, fish- 
ing tackles, baseball supplies and builder's hardware; also farm 
implements (of which they have sold three cars this spring), 
vehicles and up-to-date farm machineiy of all kinds. 



72 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



One of the localities soon to be greatly benefited and devel- 
oped by the building of the railroad between Topeka and Coun- 
cil Grove, is the neighborhood about Keene. It is one of the 
oldest settled sections of the country. At the time the Beecher 
Bible and Rifle Company came to Wabaunsee, land was also be- 
ing taken in this part of Mission Township. Among the earliest 
was the Mossman family who came in 1856. Mr. S. L. Moss- 
man then a boy of seven, still occupies the original homestead. 
The Beach family came in 1857. Mr. W. K. and Mack Beach 
have fine homes in Keene at the present time. Other earlier 
settlers were. Captain Henry, Mr. Mason, John Doty, William B. 
Hill and William Collins. A store was opened in 1858, where 
tobacco, sugar, drygoods and wet goods (mostly the latter) 
were sold to the Indians. In 1861 a stage route was established 
between Topeka and Council Grove, on about the same route as 
the new railroad is to be built. A postoffice was opened at that 
time. A rural delivery now takes the place of the postoffice. 

In 1874 the site was moved one-half mile farther west, and a 
permanent store established. Mr. G. A. Eberhardt the present 
proprietor of the store does a general mercantile business. He 
has been in the vicinity for forty years and is a substantial cit- 
izen and enterprising business man. 

There is also a blacksmith shop, a public hall, and a large 
schoolhouse. The surrounding farms are fertile, their owners 
prosperous, and there are many fine homes in the vicinity. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



73 



Banks. 

The Stockgrowers State Bank 
Maple Hill State Bank. 



Barber. 

Frank Stephens. 

Coal Dealer. 

H. R. Williams. 

Druggists. 

Chas. F. Payne. 

General Stores. 

Davis Stewart. 
Ormbee & Updegraff. 

Grain Buyers and Feeders. 
Fowler & Tod. 

Hardware and Implements. 
Chas. P. Banker. 



BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 

Hotels. 
Windier Hotel. 

Livery Stable. 
R. A. King. 

Lumber Yards. 



The Star Lumber Company. 
J. Thomas & Son. 

Meat Market. 

Mercantile Meat Market. 

Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. J. M. Kemper. 
Dr. C. E. Yates. 

Restaurant. 

Chas. E. Greaser. 



Maple Hill is one of the newer towns of the county, yet it has 
an interesting eary history. It was a part of the Pottawatomie 
Reserve and the French who settled in the vicinity were, with 
the exception of a few adventurers, the first settlers in the coun- 
ty. This settlement was made in 1844 at the time of the ratifi- 
action of the treaty between the Government and Indians. Chief 
among these French people was a large family of Bourassas, 
of which Mr. Eugene Bourassa seems to have been the head. 
They built grist-mills and saw-mills and the old dams are 
still to be found on Mill Creek. Their principal business was 
grist and lumber work for the Government. They also supplied 



74 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 

the Indians and goods. There was another family came with 
the Bourassas in 1844, Shorey by name. One of the early land- 
marks is a stone set up by the explorer, Freemont, who stopped 
with the Bourassas in 1843, on his way west. Later others were 
added to the settlement. One of the first marriages on record 
is that of Isabella Bourassa and R. H. Watterman in 1859. 

In 1864, Maple Hill was organized as a voting precinct and 
the polls were at Watterman's place. This place is known as 
Rocky Ford. The Santa Fe Trail crossed the Kaw River just 
above the rocks. The first postoffice was on the Watterman 
place; later it was moved to Eugene Bourassa's, then to Well- 
house's, and from there to George Mouer's . 

In 1861 the treaty for breaking up the Pottawatomie Reserve 
was ratified, and in 1866 the allotments of land was made to 
the Indians, and the surplus lands opened for sale by the Santa 
Fe Railroad Company. This encouraged immigration, but set- 
tlement was slow. It was the habit of settlers to stop at Mill 
Creek for a sojourn of a few weeks or months, and go on west. 
In 1872 there were about eighteen families living in the settle- 
ment. 

The early settlers of Maple Hill do not tell so many stories 
of hard times as do the settlers of other vicinities. They did 
their trading at St. Marys and sent their children there to 
school until a schoolhouse was built at home. They were on 
friendly terms with the Indians and liked them very much as 
neighbors. The French settlers intermarried with them. These 
Indians have the reputation of being industrious and fair in 
their dealings. They lived in small buildings, and were self- 
respecting enough not to beg. 

There was no road at this time except the Fort Riley branch 
of the Santa Fe Trail. 

The stone schoolhouse was built in the early days in a his- 
toric spot. It began with one pupil — Eugene Bourassa. The 
teacher's name was Loofe. This schoolhouse was a kind of pub- 
lic hall in the early days, and all meetings, religious and secular, 
were held in it. S. H. Fairfield used to collect taxes there, be- 
fore Maple Hill and Newbury townships were divided. 

In 1873 there was a large influx of settlers from Massachu- 
setts. They were the children and relatives of Santa Fe officials. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 75 

and had plenty of money. Things began to hum. They built 
large stone houses and fitted themselves out regardless of 'ex- 
pense. From all accounts their occupation was farming, cattle- 
raising, and money-squandering. 

In 1882 a man came who has ever since figured prominently 
in the affairs of Maple Hill. This was George Fowler, a son of 
the Fowler who owns the packing-house in Kansas City. He 
fenced in considerable land, and incidentally fenced up the Santa 
Fe Trail. 

There was a leap in the value of lands as they began to be 
fenced and brought under culture. About this time the nucleus 
of a town was formed. 

About 1884 a store was started by Brooks and Verits, on 
the Pine Ranch, about two miles south and west of the present 
site of Maple Hill. Soon after the third partner, J. N. Dolley, 
was taken in. They did business in this manner until about 
1866, when Mr. Brooks retried and Verity and Dolley continued 
the business. The postoffice, which had for years before been 
established and had gone from one farmhouse to another, was 
moved into the store in about 1884, where it remained until 
moved to the railroad town in 1887. 

Dr. Kemper was the pioneer doctor, having come here and 
established a practise near the old Maple Hill store in the early 
eighties, and moved into town. 

The stone church was built and dedicated tbout 1885, and 
services were held there until 1902 or 1903. It being so far 
from town the Congregationalists moved into town and built 
a new church. Much credit in building both these churches was 
due to Rev. W. S. Crouch and his helpful wife. 

During the fall and summer of 1886 several surveys were 
made up the Mill Creek Valley, crossing the large ranches and 
its prosperous farms. The survey made up the railway com- 
pany, called the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska, was afterwards 
bought by the Rock Island interests. After passing the junction 
of Mill Creek and the Kaw River in Northeast Wabaunsee Coun- 
ty, the interests intended to form a junction between tne Fort 
Worth and Colorado lines at a point about one mile east of the 
present site of Maple Hill, which was the most natural place. 
As there was a fight between the two large ranches, the Fowler 



76 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 

Ranch and the Pierce Ranch, as to where the town should be lo- 
cated, the Rock Island decided to go where they were given more 
encouragement (McFarland) and the two factions were left to 
fight out their own town battle. The Fowler site was finally, 
after a very warm fight, successful in capturing the town, and 
in August, 1887, after the depot and side-tracks had been build, 
Mr. Fowler advertised a free excursion to Maple Hill from Kan- 
sas City and Topeka. Three trains were needed to carry the 
crowd. A free dinner was also given, also a free dance at night 
in the Hereford barn on the Fowler Ranch. At the time of the 
sale of lots there had been only a few buildings erected. J. N. 
Dolley had a store and warehouse near the corner of Third and 
Maine Streets, which was the first store in the present townsite. 
J. H. Verity and the Pierce interest had a store just west and 
south of town, where the postoffice was kept, as J. H. Verity was 
the postmaster at the old store which was about a mile and 
one-half south and west. A few years later a stone store was 
built on Main Street, near the Fowler elevator and Pierce & Co. 
succeeded .J. H. Verity and occupied the stone building, R. S. Smith 
occupying the former Verity store, which had then been moved 
to the south end of Main Street, as a hardwai-e store. This 
store was soon transferred to Warner & Griggs, of Topeka, who 
conducted a paying business there until about 1901, when they 
sold to Taylor Bros. The Pierce store existed and did a thriv- 
ing business, but much of this was credit, until about 1893, when 
they were succeeded by Wm. Robinson. Shortly after this store 
had changed hands, J. N. Dolley purchased the stone store and 
rented Rhinearson his former stand and the two stocks were 
transferred to W. R. Bracken, who conducted it for about a year 
and moved the stock away. About 1893, J. N. Dolley took in a 
partner (David Stewart) and the firm was known as Dolley & 
Stewart and the stock increased. A furniture and clothing de- 
partment was added. From 1893 this firm carried a larger 
stock of goods than is usually found in a small town, being about 
a $20,000 stock, and had a good selection of anything that could 
be desired. 

The first house built in Maple Hill was the Gilbert Stewart 
property, which was formerly the farmhouse on the Fowler 
Ranch. Mr. Simms built on Third and Fowler Avenue which 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



77 



was really the first house built after the starting of the town. 
Joseph Hetherington started a blacksmith and wagon-shop near 
Third and Fowler the same year. W. B. Small built the Wind- 
ier Hotel, lit it by gas and heated it by steam for several years. 
It was well kept and did a good business during the summer as 
a fishing resort and many people from Topeka and elsewhere 
made this their favorite outing place. Reed & Smith thinking 
there was prospect for a larger town during the boom days of 
the eighties and nineties bought forty acres of the Stone farm 
and plotted it into a suburb of the town. This is now nearly 
all taken several parties owning four to six tracts. 




Maple Hill Public School Building. 



About 1888 Thos. Brownlee was appointed postmaster, which 
position he filled until about 1892, when J. W. Clark, our pio- 
neer harnessmaker, was appointed his successor. Mr. Brownlee 
started a general merchandise store on a small scale while in 
the postoffice, which he afterward continued and increased until 
about 1902. J. W. Clark kept the postoffice about two years 
and resigned about 1893, and Geo. H. Smith, the pioneer drug- 
gist, was appointed. He held the position until the fall of 1897, 
when H. E. Beaubien was appointed. He held the place until 
October 1, 1889, when H. R. Williams was appointed and has 
held the position ever since. Soon after Mr. Smith was removed 



78 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



as postmaster he sold his drug stock to Charles F. Payne ,of 
Topeka, and moved to Spokane, Washington. 

In the early spring of 1900 when everything w^as dry, in the 
small hours of the night, Maple Hill receiver her first backset. 
Some one discovered a fire at the rear of the drug-store and gavfr 
the alarm. In a short time there were several men on hand with 
buckets and water, but not until the fire had made such head- 
way in the drug-store that no one could enter. This fire de- 
stroyed five buildings, the drug store. Dr. Menard's office, ad- 
joining it, the Axley store, and Stewart's meat market and ice- 
house. By heroic work the contents of all but the drug-store 
were saved. These buildings were soon replaced by better ones. 




Maple Hill State Bank. 



In November of the same year, in the night, fire was again 
discovered, this time on the outside of the building occupied by 
Dolley & Stewart's clothing and furniture store. This fire 
spread until it swept away the barber-shop next door and Dol- 
ley & Stewart's warehouse in the rear, but by heroic efforts the 
Fowler cribs and elevator, as well as a large quantity of the con- 
tents of Dolley & Stewart's warehouse, also the stone or main 
store of Dolley & Stewart, were saved. New warehouses and 
other buildings were at once built and business went on as usual, 
until early in the spring of 1901, the alarm of fire was again 
heard at an early hour in the morning, this time to find the 
stone store had been afire for several hours on the inside, caused 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 79 

by spontaneous combustion. After this fire Mr. Dolley withdrew 
from active business in the mercantile line and Mr. David Ste- 
wart, together with Robert Best, formed the firm of Stewart & 
Best, and bought out Thomas Brownlee, at the old original 
Dolley stand. This firm was soon succeeded by David Stewart, 
who again burned out in the fall of 1903, fire having caught 
from the adjoining building. He at once moved into other quar- 
ters and continued business. Mr. Dolley was then in the real 
estate and insurance business. In 1904 he entered politics. 

Thomas Brownlee moved to Dover and died in 1905. W. E*. 
Small closed the Windier Hotel in about 1899 and moved to 
Blackwell, Oklahoma. While proprietor of the hotel he served 
two terms as Register of Deeds of Wabaunsee County. Gilbert 
Stewart, the pioneer butcher, sold out about 1900, bought a farm 
and was not actively engaged in business until 1907, when he 
began to buy and ship hogs. 

R. T. Updegraff, who started the first lumber-yard, began 
business about 1888, and continued in it until January 1, 1905, 
when he sold to Star Lumber Company, to act in the capacity 
of President of the Maple Hill State Bank, which was organized 
in the fall of 1904, with R. T. Updegraff as president, and Chas. 
P. Banker as cashier. In 1907 he bought an interest in the 
store, established by F. L. Grove in about 1898, at this time be- 
ing owned by T. W. Ormsbee, and formed the Maple Hill Mer- 
cantile Company. 

W. S. Isham had been tinner here for several years until a 
mail-box for rural mail patrons was patented in 1902, and a 
company formed to manufacture the boxes. It was called the 
Maple Hill Manufacturing Company and was composed of J. N. 
Dolley, W. S. Isham, P. C. Chamberlain and H. R. Williams. 
This firm did business for two years. During the first year 
10,000 of these boxes were made and shipped. About ten men 
were employed during this year. The second year was not so 
prosperous and in the fall the whole business was sold out to 
W. S. Isham. 

The Business Men's Commercial Club was formed in 1900, 
with W. J. Todd as president, John Turnbull, vice-president, and 
G. P. Sturgis, secretary and treasurer. Its objects were the wel- 
fare and the benefit of the business interests of Maple Hill. 
They did many commendable things, among them being the plant- 



80 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



ing and cultivating of about one hundred shade trees along some 
of the principal streets. 

Maple Hill has two churches, the Congregational, established 
in the old Adams schoolhouse about 1862, and the M. E. Church, 
established about 1888. The school-building built in 1904 is the 
pride of the town and surrounding country. 

The Stockgrowers' State Bank was organized in October, 
1906, with Franklin Adams, president ; J. N. Dolley, vice-presi- 
dent; and J. D. Weaver, cashier. They did a general banking 
business and are doing a fine business for a small town. 

For several years after the second fire there was no hall in 
town for lodge work or public meetings, but in 1905, J. D. Weav- 
er put up a two-story stone building — a storeroom below and 
hall above. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



81 




R. T. Updegraff, 
leading business man of 
Maple Hill is president 
President of the Maple 
Hill State Bank, head of 
the Ormbee & Updegraff 
Mercantile Company, the 
principal general mer- 
cantile store. He is 
also owner of the Wink- 
ler Hotel, meat market 
and a splendid farm 
near the town. Mr. Up- 
degraff is a native of 
Ohio but has been in 
business here ever since 
he came to Kansas. No 
man in the county has 
more diversified business 
interests than he has 
and made such a grati- 
fying success. He is 
the fortunate possessor 
of a beautiful home and 
interesting family. To 
do business in Maple 
Hill you must see Mr. 
Updegraff. 



CH4S. F. PAYNE. Maple Hill, Kansas 

Chas. F. Payne, the only druggist at Maple Hill, was born 
in London, England, in 1863. At the age of 15 years was ap- 
prenticed to a chemist and druggist at Folkeston, County of 
Kent. After serving his apprenticeship and having passed the 
examination he secured a position with a leading firm of dx'ug- 
gists in Colchester, Essex, where he remained four years, rising 
to the position of head dispenser (or prescription clerk) ; resign- 
ing to come to the United States in 1887. Mr. Payne has been 
in business in Maple Hill for over eight years, coming to that 
place from Topeka, and enjoys the patronage and confidence of 
the best people in the community. His stoi-e is well stocked and 
is neat and attractive, a feature of the store being no liquors 
handled for any purpose. 



82 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 



Barber-Shop. 

H. J. Borgman. 

General Stores. 

H. J. Hahn & Co. 
F. C. Noller & Co. 

Hotels. 

Denver House. 

Livery and Feed Barn. 

Wm. Walters. 



Lumber Yards. 

McFarland Lumber Co. 

Meat Market. 

Noller & Theel. 

Physicians and Surgeon, 

C. R. Siliverthorne. 

Restaurants. 

Mrs. M. Calaway. ^ 
Ringel Bros. 



McFarland is strictly a railroad town, and became so by 
the location of the junction of the Denver branch with the Her- 
ington line of the Rock Island, at that place. The location of 
the junction was fixed in 1887 when the Denver branch was 
built. 

This junction was first intended to be at Paxico. The ma- 
terial for two railroad bridges were unloaded at that point and 
the Rock Island's civil engineer was on the ground. This en- 
gineer made a trip to McFarland, so the story goes, and on his 
return the location of the junction was changed to McFarland. 
At Paxico they have the story that the engineer was bribed. 
The other account is that the company found it impossible to 
reach the rich bottoms from Paxico and abandoned that point. 
The location of the junction was then fixed on the southwest 
quarter of section 31. 

S. H. Fairfield, learning of the prospects, bought the south- 
west quarter of 31. A town company was formed, the members 
of which were S. H. Fairfield of Alma, C. W. Jewel, James Sury, 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



83 



George Bates, of Topeka, and Judge J. N. McFarland. Under 
this town company the land was surveyed, town lots laid out 
and sold, and a hotel, store, church, and four dwellings erected. 

The hotel was sold to John Winkler, of Alma, who by the 
way is about as historic a character as lives in the county. The 
church which was built for a Congregational church was sold to 
the Lutherans. 

Watson Aderhold & Co. put a stock of goods in the town 
company's store building the next year, and became the pioneer 
merchants of McFarland. 




Store of H. J. HAHN & CO., McFarlaniJ, Kans. 

Dealer in General Merchandise. Complete line of Ladies' and 
Gent's Clothing and Furnishings. Large stock of Groceries and 
Notions, Footware, etc. Successors to Wendland Bros. 



84 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



T?here is an amusing bit of history connected with the nam- 
ing of the town. It was laid out by S. H. Fairfield on his own 
land. Mr. Fairfield was at a loss to know what name to give it. 
He had started a town about a mile west of this one on the M. 
A. & B. and had called it Fairfield. There was a postoffice in 
Russell County by that name. Senator Plumb said that Mr. 
Fairfield took a bag of beans and went up to Russell County to 
get the patrons of the Fairfield postoffice to change the name to 
Hawley, so that his own town could have a postoffice. 

There is doubtless more or less truth in this bean story. 
Whoever doubts it can just look up Russell County on the map, 
und finds the postoffice of Hawley on a little creek tributary to 
'Smoky Hill River. Any one who would not take Senator 




Residence of MR. C. J. COMSTOCK, McFarland Kans. 

Mr. G. J. Comstock and wife, who live in the above beautiful 
home, are the oldest residents of McFarland. They located on 
the Pau-Pau Creek one mile from town in 1882 while the site 
of McFarland was still a wheat-field. The above residence on 
the old Springer place was built in 1905. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 85 



Plumb's word for it, after that, must be as skeptical as the man 
who wouldn't believe that Louis Palenske's pigs climbed thirty 
feet high into a tree the night of the flood on Mill Creek. 

Disliking very much to spoil this story of Senator Plumb's, 
Mr. Fairfield named the new town on the Rock Island, McFar- 
land after his prime friend. Judge McFarland, of Topeka, al- 
though after all these twenty years, he still says the town should 
have been called Fairfield and would have been, had it not been 
for that bag of beans. 

After the town was started and the first half dozen buildings 
put up, the bottom fell out of everything and things were at a. 
stand-still for a long time. 

The Rock Island, finding their eating-house not well patron- 
ized in Topeka on account of there being so many cheaper places, 
moved it to McFarland. It is a very fine eating-house, but does 



DR. C. R. SILVERTHORNE. 

Dr. C. R. Silverthorne, one of the most active and public- 
spirited men of McFarland, is a self-made man in the strictest 
sense of the term. He was left an orphan at the age of seven 
and has taken care of himself and became educated. It is a 
pleasure to give a biography of such a man as an encouragement 
to young men without advantages. 

Dr. Silverthorne was born at Grandview, Ind., August 17th, 
1870. He went through common school and at the age of twenty 
entered the medical department of the United States Hospital 
as dispensarian. In 1894 he left for St. Louis to attend the 
Medical College at that place. Three years later he came to 
Kansas with the sum of $2.75 and plenty of grit, although he 
did not know a person in the State. He graduated from the 
University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., in 1898. Coming 
back to Kansas he located at Mayday, Riley County, where he 
remained six years. In September, 1901, he went to St. Joseph, 
Mo., and took a postgraduate in Ensworth College, graduating in 
1902. He was appointed Rock Island Surgeon at McFarland in 
December of the same year and has been in active practise in 
this town ever since. On April 1st, 1905, he was appointed 
Surgeon on Gov. Hoch's staff" and reappointed on April 1st, 1907. 

Dr. Silverthorne is a member of the following Medical so- 
cieties: American Medical Association; American Association 
of Railroad Surgeons, Rock Island Surgeon's Association, Mili- 
tary Surgeons of the United States, and of both State and 
County Medical Associations. 



86 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



not do the town much good as it spoils the restaurant trade. Mr. 
John Winkler, who conducted a restaurant by the depot, went 
out of business when the eating-house was built. 

The growth was very slow until after 1901, when the rail- 
road company built a sheep-rest and feeding-yards on the prop- 
erty. At that time the town began to come to the front and 
there has been plenty doing at McFarland ever since. 

It has a population at pi-esent of 500 inhabitants and is the 
largest town for its age in the county. It is a very active, busy 
little town and there is not an unemployed man to be found. 
Its business places ai'e among the best-patronized stores in the 
county. There are a number of fine residences already, and 
more being erected. 

As mentioned in the beginning of this article, McFarland is 
strictly a railroad town. It has fifty trains daily, eighteen of 
which are passenger trains. It is located on the Mill Creek bot- 
toms which extend toward the south, while a range of low 
hills rise on the north. The surrounding country is adapted to 
cattle- and sheep-feeding and general farming. 




H. B. Channell 

Alma, Kans. 

Mr. H. B. Channel, of 
Alma, Kansas, is the 
auctioneer upon whom 
we have decided to give 
credit as being the best 
in the county, for the fol- 
lowing reasons: He is 
proficient on thorough- 
bred sales, as he makes it 
his business to keep 
posted on what stuff 
should bring, and be- 
cause his terms are rea- 
sonable. He has been an 
auctioneer for the last 
twenty-five years, eigh- 
teen of which time he has 
been in Wabaunsee 
County. Mr. Channel 
has his headquarters 
with J. B. Fields at 
Alma. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



87 



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88 



Wabaunsee County Directory and Mistory 



BUSINESS 
Banks. 

State Bank of Paxico. 

Blacksmiths. 

Jess Davis. 
A. J. Pride. 

Barbers. 

Geo. Woodey. 
J. H. Snyder. 

Cobbler. 

H. Knoober. 

Druggists. 

J. H. Nutlmann. 

General Merchandise. 

C. Tomson. 

C. J. Glotzback. 

Grocery. 

Oehms & Palenske. 



DIRECTORY. 

Hardware. 

Muckentahler Hardware Co. 

Harness. 

Louis Palenske. 

Livery Stable. 

J. H. Meyers. 

Lumber Yard. 

i Paxico Lumber Co. 

Physicians and Surgeons. 

Dr. Maynard. 

Dr. W. F. Richardson. 

Restaurants. 

J. C. Phipps. 

Wagon Works. 

S. Shroyer. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 89 

Paxico is located in the valley of Mill Creek, amid surround- 
ings of great natural beauty. Its large area of tributary farm 
lands are well watered and fertile and constitute a substantial 
backing for the little town. It is on the main line of the Rock 
Island and has excellent railroad accommodations. Considerable 
stock is raised in the vicinity, but the principal farm product is 
grain, especially wheat. The growth of woods along Mill Creek 
and the abundance of fish make Paxico a favorite camping place. 

HISTORY OF PAXICO. 

The history of Paxico naturally opens with a short sketch 
of Newbury, the town on the hill about a mile from Paxico 
which has retired from business. 

Newbury was settled by an Ohio colony, and the first build- 
ings were put up in 1870. In the fall of 1869 four Germans, 
John Mock and his father, Joe Glatzbach, and Martin Mucken- 
tahler, jointly bought the first land sold on the reserve. At this 
time there were no white people within five miles of the place, 
In the spring Newbury was laid out. A man by the name of 
Bartlett, afterwards mayor of San Francisco, and the Santa Fe 
Railroad were the originators. 

The Santa Fe had bought the whole reservation at $1 per 
acre and sold it at from $5 per acre up, and so was interested 
in starting towns wherever possible. 

The county-seat struggle was not over yet when Newbury 
came on the scene, and not being immune she had an attack of 
county-seat aspirations from which most of the small tov^Tis 
were suffering. While she was convalescing from this many 
people got discouraged and moved away. Those who stuck to 
it, made money. There was not the keen struggle for existence 
in this community that there was in the earlier settlements. 
Markets were handy, and the people were tolerably comfortable 
from the first. 



90 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 

About a dozen houses were built in Newbury and also a few 
business places. Goldstandt & Cohen kept the first store. 
Stringham opened a store in 1872 and later Mahan kept a place 
called the "Variety Store." Mahan was bought out by Tomson, 
who still figures prominently in the business life of Paxico. 
Stephenson built a lumber-yard and James Matheny, from whose 
son, Atwood, the town of Atwood was named, kept the drug- 
store. Some of the Newbury people were old settlers in the 
county. Mr. E. Little (better known as Dick Little) came to 
Mission Creek in 1857 and settled near what is now the Hender- 
son Ranch. C. Tomson settled on Mission Creek in 1866. Both 
these parties were afterward influential citizens of Newbury. 

About the middle of the eighties, when there was talk of the 
Rock Island going through, Newbury was working hard to have 
it come around her way. But meanwhile in 1879, William and 
Robert Strourg had built a mill on the place formerly owned by 
the old Indian medicine man, Pashqua, who left for the Indian 
Territory in 1870. A store was started near the mill by John 
Copp. A postoffice was established and called Paxico, after the 
Indian. 

When the Rock Island v/as looking up its location there was 
a fight between Newbury and Paxico to get the railroad. The 
scrap went merrily on for some time and finally a compromise 
was made on the present site of Paxico. Then there was a 
struggle over which place it should be named for. Paxico won 
out. 

The town was laid out in 1886 and was promoted by a iovm 
company which was a Topeka concern. It was called Nuttman's 
addition. Copp moved his store up from the bridge, and most 
of the business places were moved over from Newbuiy. An- 
derson of St. Marys, who was a member of the town company, 
built the hotel; also the building now owned by C. J. Glatzbach. 
There was a chance at one time to have had the Rock Island 
junction at Paxico, but it got away from them. 

About the main thing that distinguishes Paxico from the rest 
of the towns in the county, is that she never tried to get the 
county seat. Secondariily are her Fourth of July celebrations, 
and the weeds in the streets. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 91 

GOOD ALL THE TIME. 

Snowflake Flour 

NEVER BETTER THAN NOW. 
Give it a trial. 



Paxico Milling Company, 

Paxico, Kans. 



J. C. Phipps' Restaurant, 

Open 18 hours every day. 

Cigars and Confectionery. 



J. C. Phipps, Prop., Paxico, Kans. 



92 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Wabaunsee is a town which we can with a clear conscience 
call a back number. It is not exactly a town either, just a com- 
munity. It has one store in which the postoffice is kept, a Wood- 
man's Hall, three churches, two schoolhouses, and twenty-five 
dwellings. Yet from a historic viewpoint Wabaunsee is prob- 
ably the most important town in the county. It figured in Kan- 
sas history in the days of "bleeding Kansas" with a John Brown 
in the West and Henry Ward Beecher in the East. The first 
three towns of the State where in the order of their settlement, 
Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Wabaunsee, For many years Wa- 
banusee was the only town west of Topeka. 

The first settlers were Joshua Smith and Robert Banks from 
Massachusetts, who were here when J. M. Bisby and his com- 
panions came from New York in 1854. 

In the spring of 1855 Rev. Harvey Jones was sent to Wa- 
baunsee by the American Missionary Association of New York. 
In the fall his wife followed him. In her diary Mrs. Jones men- 
tions that it took a week to travel from St. Louis to Kansas 
City. At that time a small hotel, two stores and a few houses 
were all that comprised Kansas City. It was two days' journey 
with the ox team from that point to Lawrence. In those days 
some people who indulged in prophesies were of the opinion 
that the country would never be settled up much west of Te- 
cumseh, and that Topeka would never be a town. 

The settlers in those early days lived in small houses en- 
closed with "shakes." They also had chills most of the time, 
but one kind of "shakes'" had no connection with the other. 
Chairs, bedsteads, and other furniture were made from cotton- 
wood and elm poles. Although the weather was no colder in 
those days than it is now the suflfering from the cold was ter- 
rible, as the houses were not sufficient to keep out the cold and 
the comforts of life were few. Food was often scarce and people 
used to live solely on "hulled corn" for weeks at a time. In the 
spring of 1856 the famous Beecher Bible and Riflo Company of 
New Haven arrived on the scene. They had sent five men — A. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 93 



A. Cottrell, J. J. Walters, Benjamin Street, T. P. C. Hyde, and 
a Mr. Webb— to look up a location where there was no townsite 
company to interfere with them in making what rules and regu- 
lations they wished. These instructions were responsible for 
them not settling at Topeka, where C. K. Holliday, president 
of the Topeka Town Company held out every inducement, ex- 
cept to give up all rights to the townsite. This is what the set- 
ters at Wabaunsee did. The parties to the agreement were J. 
M. Bisby, Harvey Jones, and Peter Sharrls, acting for the town 
and the five men above mentioned acting for the New Haven 
colony. 

The story of their organization in New Haven lo help make 
Kansas a free State is given in the historical sketch of the coun- 
ty and will not be dealt with here, except to say that the '"eal 
name of the company was the Connecticut Kansas Colony. There 
were some women in this colony. Before their cjming there 
were only three women in the Wabaunsee settlement. Ir the 
same year the colony was joined by others among whom was 
S. H. Fairfield, who came to Kansas with the Northern immi- 
grants led by .James Redpath. The members of the colony or- 
ganized a rifle company with others of the neighborhood, under 
Capt. Wm. G. Mitchell. 

The history of this Beecher Bible and Rifle Company in- 
cludes about the whole history of Wabaunsee, a large part of 
the history of the county, and is an important item in the his- 
tory of the State. 

At this time the feeling between the Pro- and Anti-slavery 
parties ran very high and each side were carrying guns and 
ropes for the other. The President of the United States, the 
Secretary of War, and all the Territorial officers were doing all 
they could legitimately and otherwise to make Kansas a slave 
State. Bogus sheriff's with bogus warrants were sent out after 
free-State men. Three men who were being thus hunted down 
came to Wabaunsee in .June, 1856, from Topeka, where they had 
been at work on a free-State constitution. They were Dr. J. P. 
Root, J. J. Walters, and W. Griswold. 

Being shut off from the main line of travel, Wabaunsee it- 
self was not the scene of much of the conflict, but the Rifle Com- 
pany was engaged in the struggle all the way through. They 



94 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



took part in the early struggles about Lawrence and Franklin 
and repulsed the attack of the Missouri bushwhackers. Nearly 
every member of the Wabaunsee settlement went to the seat of 
war. They were joined by several free-State men from upper 
Deer Creek, a settlement west of Wabaunsee. They were gone 
some six weeks on this trip, and were engaged in every skirmish 
that took place in or near Lawrence, the last one being just at 
sunset on Sunday night. The whole body of border ruffians 
were in camp at Franklin. They came down the main line to 
Lawrence and were repulsed by the Beecher Rifle Company from 
a ravine about half a mile from town. This victory has been 
credited to "the Lawrence Stubbs," but it really belonged to the 
Wabaunsee boys, as" the "Stubbs" were not on the ground, ac- 
cording to the statement of Wabaunsee men. 

On their return the men found everything gone to the bad 
at home. The cattle had eaten up the crops. Many of the boys 
were sick and there was no money to buy medicine. Flour cost 
$6 to $9 per sack. 

The winter of 1856-57 was a very hard one. People were 
out of food and clothing and the suffering was vei-y gi'eat. In 
the spring things brightened up. Some new settlers were add- 
ed to the colony. 

The famous Beecher Bible and RiHe Church was founded in 
1857, with seven members. The first Fourth of July celebra- 
tion was held in this year. A glorious time was planned. There 
was a brass band there and thirty-six ox teams decked out in 
bunting. The Governor of the Territory was the principal 
speaker. 

The people were just beginning to live in comfort when the 
drouth of 1860 and the Civil War the following year brought 
hardship and trouble. All the able-bodied men went to the front 
and most of them saw hard service. During the Price raid eve- 
ery able-bodied man in Kansas was ordered to the front. Cap- 
tain Palmer gives an excellent description of the Price raid in 
Volume 9 of the State Historical Society. 

The Wabaunsee boys saw the hard part of the Battle of the 
Blue, otherwise known as the Battle of Westport, where the 
Missourians and Kansans were pitted against each other, each 
side on their own soil. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 95 



After the close of the war the county-seat trouble came 
up and Wabaunsee lost the county official effects, which were 
hauled to Alma in a light wagon with the county officers for 
ballast in 1867. For three years the struggle was kept up, but 
at last Wabaunsee dropped behind in the fight and Alma won 
out. P"'i'om this time on there is not much to tell of the plucky 
pioneer town, which was once designated by its enemies as 
"that d — abolition nest." 

Judge Hall, of Wabaunsee, was being interviewed by a Cap- 
ital reporter in 1888. In reply to a cinestion he said, "Yes, Wa- 
baunsee is growing like a cow's tail — growing down." 

We have neglected to say that a stone building was erected 
in 1862 as a home for the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church. This 
is one of the old landmarks in Kansas and brings early settlers 
together every year to celebrate the founding of the church. 
Some of the old rifles are displayed on these occasions, fulfilling 
the prophetic words of Beecher who said, "Let these arms hang 
above your doors as the old Revolutionary muskets do in many 
New England homes. May your children in another generation 
look upon them with pride and say, 'Our fathers' courage saved 
this fair land from slavery and blood.' " 

Much has been said of the warlike spirit in this article, but 
that really was not the predominate spirit of the colony. The 
Bible and Hymn book went along with the rifle, and in many 
cases the Yale sheepskin also. All four were important factors 
in pioneer life, and the rifle was not used except in cases where 
the other three were not practicable. 

The New York Daily Tribune of April 4, 1856, describes the 
colony in the following words: "A nobler looking body of men 
was never seen than the New Haven Colony. They are mostly 
athletic men with strong hands and strong hearts." For this 
occasion demanded it, and without strong hearts, strong hands 
were powerless, while with them, weak hands can move moun- 
tains. 



96 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



SOME LATER HISTORY FROM THE DIARY OF ELIZA- 
- BETH N. BARR, WHO GATHERED THE 
HISTORY FOR THIS BOOK. 

Maple Hill, July 4th. — We were discussing grasshopper year 
at the hotel to-day. I told about what terrible straits the peo- 
ple of Harveyville were left in at that 
time. Some one asked me if I were living 
at Harveyville at the time. You know 
^^m^ grasshopper year was in 1874. I went 

^^^H^^ up stairs and ordered three pitchers of 

^^HpRlj^M- ice water. 

^^^^^ ^^ Paxico, July 6th. — Came down to the 

^B©l> ^^IT depot to inquire about trains. Saw 

" --- through the window as I was coming 

that the station agent was washing his 
feet, — a most commendable occupation. 
He saw me. Thinking to give him time 
to get through, I stayed out doors for a 
few minutes. When I came in he was 
still washing his feet — in the waiting 
room. Looking up innocently he asked: 
"What do you want?" "Nothing in that 
line," 'I answered. 
Maple Hill, July 8th. — One of the campers came up fi'om the 
Creek to-day and brought a fish that weighed 49 pounds. Now 
we were used to fish stories, but this man could show the goods. 
At first we were stupefied with amazement, and then we all 
made a rush for the Creek to see the spot where the fish was 
pulled out. It was a mile and half and we run nearly all the way. 
The spot showed the marks of a hard struggle and the water 
was still riled considerably. On our way back we learned that 
the fish had arrived that afternoon from Lake Michigan in a 
refrigerator car. The criminal is still at large, but a posse is 
scouring the woods, and if caught he will probably be lynched 
before the authorities can interfere. 

July 12th. — I have been talking it over with several of the 
local bachelors and have decided to fix it this way: We counted 
up the bachelors in Wabaunsee County, and I happen to know 
that there is a corresponding number of old maids living on Col- 



Elizabeth N. Barr 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 97 



lege Hill, Topeka, Kansas. I will act as agent for the Topeka 
end of the line and send the spinsters out in cai'-lots. The first 
consignment will be shipped September 1st, care of a certain 
County Commissioner, and the distributing point will be Sun- 
beam. The next shipment will be in care of Schroeder & Thoes' 
undertaking establishment. It is not to be inferred from this 
that the spinsters will be dead ones. 

■ Alma, July 13th. — I used to think the people noted my per- 
sonal appearance, but I am now quite disillusioned on the matter, 
Yesterday and to-day I have been going around with my mouth 
and neck all blistered, my nose twice its natural size, and my 
eyes swelled shut — the results of poison ivy. I thought I was 
a great deal uglier than usual, but most of the people didn't 
notice the difference, until their attention was called to it. 



At the present day few pursuits offer to intelligent and in- 
dustrious young men and women so many attractions as does 
stenography. Moreover, no line of work offers such great oppor- 
tunities. Shorthand work naturally fits one for more responsi- 
ble positions, and then opens the ways to pi-omotion, for the 
stenographer is always in a confidential capacity, in closest 
touch with the head of the concern; as he handles his employer's 
private correspondence, he gets a knowledge of the details of the 
business such as no other clei'k can get, and is naturally fitted 
by this work for other and higher positions of trust and respon- 
sibility. 

Because we wish to serve the interests of the young people of 
Wabaunsee County, we take this opportunity of calling special 
attention, with our heartiest recommendation, to Dougherty's, 
the Actual Business Training School, located at 116-118 West 
Eighth Street, Topeka, which is doing such very successful work 
in fitting young people for success in the business world. This 
school is now thirteen years old, and has been steadily growing, 
both in enrollment and popular favor. Its success has largely 
been due to the fact that it has been built up on new lines. 

Mr. George E. Dougherty, the founder and proprietor, is 
himself an expert stenographer and a business man of extended 
experience, having been an employer as well as an employee, and 
knowing the needs of the business world, he is determined to 
make better stenographers than the average. That he is suc- 
ceeding is attested by the growing demand for his graduates. 
Within the last week he has had fourteen more calls for stenog- 
raphers than he could supply, and most of these positions of- 
fered $60 a month or more. In one day came three calls from 
the Santa Fe Railway, one for a $70 position and two of them 



98 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



for positions paying $80 a month. Within three days Dough- 
erty's sent out three students right from school into $75 posi- 
tions. 

Mr. Dougherty's success is due chiefly to his methods, which 
he got from his own business experience and not from other 
schools. While working as a stenographer he had experience in 
training others for stenographic work by means of the regiilar 
work of the office in which he was employed, and when he es- 
tablished his school he founded it upon this plan. Practically 
all the instruction from the very first is given by means of actual 
work for business men. This work is very much more varied 
than that of any one office, consisting of letters in a number of 
different lines of business, architects' specifications, legal work, 
medical work, etc. And all of it is done under constant super- 
vision and instruction. The work must be done right, hence this 
plan insures the maximum of personal attention on the part of 
teachers and means to the student veiy much more thorough 
training. At the same time this work is vastly more interesting 
to the learner than is play work, and thus, securing and holding 
his interest and attention, enables him to learn much more 
rapidly, and upon graduating he is, as a result, prepai-ed to take 
up business work in a manner to suit his employer. 

No other school anywhere is conducted as is Dougherty's in 
this respect. This feature alone insures very much more pro- 
ficient stenographers. It "kills two birds with one stone" by 
giving the student a very great deal of actual experience in 
connection with his study, so that six months in Dougherty's 
is equivalent to at least nine months in other schools plus three 
to six months' experience in an office afterwards. With such 
thorough business training it is not surprising that graduates 
of this school find no difi^cvilty in obtaining employment, there 
being a constantly increasing demand for them. 

Topeka has some decided advantages over other cities as a 
place in which to secure a business training. It is a nice clean 
city, an unexcelled place in which to live. The student has ac- 
cess to a splendid City Library, to the State Library, State His- 
torical collections, etc. Being the capital of the State, it holds 
the State officers, an unusually large number of strong law firms, 
the State headquarters of very many organizations working 
throughout the State. Here too are the headquarters and the 
general officers, also the main shops, of the Santa Fe Railroad 
Company, with its 75,000 employees; also many large mercan- 
tile establishments, wholesale and retail. All these business of- 
fices require an immense number of stenographers and other 
clerks. The Santa Fe, through its chief officers here, employs 
very many stenographers for various points along the line, also. 
To the citizens of Wabaunsee County, Topeka is much nearer 
than other cities having business colleges. Hence this is the 
paturaj place for them to attend school. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 99 



Dougherty's School has the finest location in Topeka, being 
within a block of the city transfer station, Santa Fe general 
offices, diagonally opposite the Capitol Square and the City Li- 
brary, two blocks from the two High School buildings, the larg- 
est stores of the city, the daily newspaper offices, the largest 
printing offices in the city, etc. In fact, it is in the very heart 
of the business section of Topeka. The school occupies especially 
pleasant rooms, they being exceedingly well lighted and venti- 
lated. The equipment of the school is pronounced unequaled in 
the State by those who have had opportunity to see all the 
schools. 

Among the features of this school are Dougherty's Brief 
Shorthand and Dougherty's Touch Typewriting, both of which 
are very much different from other methods. Dougherty's Brief 
Shorthand is by far the simplest system published. It has 
achieved remarkable success, being used now in all parts of 
the country and in various parts of the world, where its stu- 
dents have gone and advertised the system by their successful 
work. The simplicity of the system is due to the fact that it is 
exactly like longhand in its general principles; it is, therefore, 
the natural method. For this I'eason it is not necessary to resort 
to such complicated methods as the old systems use. All the 
principles of the system are shown and fully explained on four 
small pages of the text book. 

Dougherty's School has always paid very much more atten- 
tion to typewriting than do other schools, and this is one reason 
for the unusual demand for its students. The employer judges 
the stenographer by the typewritten work, for that is the part 
of the work which shows; hence, this is the most important part 
of the stenographer's' equipment. 

Dougherty's Touch Typewriting gives results that cannot be 
secured with ordinary methods. Mr. Dougherty's copyrighted 
method of teaching the learner the keyboard, for example, 
gives the learner as much knowledge of the keyboard in ten 
minutes as he could get by ordinary methods in ten hours. Great 
stress is laid upon the importance of forming right habits and 
learning at the very start to do everything in the best way. 

Very much attention is given to the proper arrangement and 
display, margins, etc., in both letters and other business forms. 
Schools usually have students learn by copying correct forms 
from a book; in this way they merely follow the copy before 
them, without a thought or any instruction as to the reason. 
Hence but little impression is made upon the mind. When the 
student is doing actual work, as he is required to do in Dough- 
erty's School, from longhand or from his shorthand notes, in 
which there is no attempt at arrangement, he is compelled to 
think for himself, he is taught the reason for this and that, and 
inevitably it makes an impression which stays with him. Some 
schools have an "actual business department," in which students 



100 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



for sevei'al weeks before leaving school are supposed to practise 
on real work; but Dougherty's is the only school which teaches 
by means of real work, from the beginning of the course to the 
end. 

But it is necessary to see this school in order to fully under- 
stand its decided advantages. We have had experience with 
students of various schools, and we have no hesitancy in pro- 
nouncing this school far superior in its methods and results to 
any other school we know of. 

Mr. Dougherty publishes his shorthand and typewriting sys- 
tems in a complete Manual, which he sells for $2.00, and many 
learn from this alone. He also publishes a handsome little book, 
entitled "Dougherty's Shorthand Primer," of which the Phono- 
graphic World, of New York, says, "It occupies a unique field all 
alone," as nothmg of the kind was ever published before. It is 
simply enough for the youngest school child, and sells at 25 
cents. For six cents he will send any of our readers a copy of 
a little book containing twenty-five simple lessons in Dougherty's 
Brief Shorthand. 

Write to Mr. Dougherty at any rate, but if possible see his 
school for yourself. 

Even though you cannot go to school, we would advise you 
to learn Dougherty's Brief Shorthand. It will be worth much 
to you in various ways, and you can learn it at odd moments 
at home. Mr. Dougherty gives lessons by mail with great suc- 
cess, and at a trifiing expense. Aside from the practical use to 
which you can put Shorthand, the mental training which it af- 
fords is a great advantage in every way. In securing help for 
any clerical position, experienced employers always give the 
preference to those who have a practical knowledge of Short- 
hand, because they say there is a marked difference in the way 
a stenographer is able to handle the work. 



Phones: Bell, Hickory 227; Home, Main 227. References: K. 
C. National Bank of Commerce or Stock Yards Bank of Com- 
merce. 

ESTABLISHED 1889. 

CARLISLE COMMISSION COMPANY, 

1315 W. Eleventh Street, Kansas City. 

We solicit your shipment of Hay and Straw. Liberal advances. 
Warehouses on K. C. S. and Missouri Pacific Railway. 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



101 



THE, AUTO -FED AN Record run 3 tons in 

SeLf-FeldHAY PRESS Bun It?" one hour. Easy on 

horses, makes smooth 
square cornered bales. 
Will save its cost in 
two seasons in expense 
of operating. Shipped 
on trial. Write for 
free booklet. 




THE, AUTO.FE,DAN HAY PRE,SS CO 

1041 Jefferson St., Topeka, Kans. 



J. E. GALL, 

Grain, Provision, Cotton and Stock Broker, 

Telephone 486. 
BUY AND SELL FUTURES. 
110 West Sixth Street, Topeka, Kansas. 

The Topeka Pure Milk Co., 

Pasteurized Milk, Cream, 
Ice Cream and Butter 



We buy cream and always pay the highest market price. 
Phones 537. Topeka, Kansas. 



I 0in-£PSveep Feed 




^iA-22. Calvanized 
Grinder. | 9 14 Steel Wind I 
We manufacture all sizes 
styles. It win 
pay you to In- 
vestigate. Write 
for catalog and 
price list. 

CURRIE WIND MILL CO., 

628 Seventh St., Topeka, Kansas 




102 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 




Brigfhtside Homestead Residence of Chas. C. Gardner, 

Owner of Brightside Stock Farm. Bradford, Kans. 

Among the citizens of Wabaunsee County we want to men- 
tion Mr. Charles C. Gardiner, who was born October 25th, 1834, 
near Sherborn, Chenango County, New York, of Rhode Island 
parents. In the spring of 1842 he moved to Akron, Ohio, with 
his parents. In 1847 removed to the ancestral home in Rhode 
Island, whei'e he attended the common school. 

In the fall of 1853 he went to Providence to learn the carpen- 
ter trade; attended night school to learn drawing and architec- 
ture; united with the Congregational Church in 1855; in the 
fall of 1856 went to Alfred University, New York, and took a 
course in civil engineering. Taught school at Jamestown, R. I., 
the winter of 1858-59. Came to Kansas Territory in May, 1859, 
as a civil engineer, and pre-empted a quarter section of land 
four miles north of Burlingame. Nothing doing in the survey 
line, he went to work at carpentering. Midsummer found him 
at Jeffei'son City, Mo., as foreman in a sash and blind factory. 
In August, 1860, married Miss Leydia P. Buffington, of Chester 
County, Pa., who came to Missouri the year before with her par- 



Wabaunsee County Directory and History 103 



ents. Late in the fall of 1860 went into the sawmill business 
with his father-in-law at Stonesport, Mo., ten miles up the river 
from Jefferson City. The war of secession breaking out in 1861, 
he enrolled in the loyal home-guards of Missouri, and saw some 
service in the year that followed. Removed to Kansas with his 
family in the spring of 1865 and settled at Waveland, ten miles 
south of Topeka. He moved to Wabaunsee County in the spring 
of 1884 and commenced impi'oving the 1,500-acre farm he still 
occupies. Was instrumental in having Bradford station opened 
in the fall of 1889 and postoffice established. Was the father of 
four children, Independence Day, who publishes the Alma News; 
Seydia, who married Prof. J. T. Willard, K. S. A. C; Earnest 
A. and M. Maud, who married Prof. R. C. Obrecht, of University 
of Illinois. 




W. E. SCHWANKE. 

Mr. W. E. Schwanke, who lives near Alma, is breeding 
Shorth'orn cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. 

The bull and heifer which started his herd were both from 
Gallant Knight. The Abbott 253713 is the herd-header at 
present, and is the animal which brought the most money at 



104 Wabaunsee County Directory and History 



Gifford's annual Shorthorn sale. This calf weighed 1350 pounds 
when but two years old. 

Mr. Schwanke started breeding the Du roc- Jerseys in 1903 
with Daisy 2d as a foundation. Superior is now the head of 
herd. The date of farrow is March 17th, 1906. He is a deep 
cherry and weighs 500 pounds, and is but seventeen months 
old. He is an excellent hog and one that you can bet on. Mr. 
Schwanke has permitted us to announce that he always has both 
hogs and cattle for sale at any time. 

Mr. Schwanke handles the Iowa Stock Powders, which is 
meeting with great success, because it is giving excellent satis- 
faction and the expense is so much less than the ordinary stock 
powders, yet its results are better. Only two feeds are required 
each week. It is a conditioner and will prevent disease. He ex- 
pects to call on the farmers over the county and offer the pow- 
ders for sale. 

We are glad some one has found cheap stock powders that 
will do the work, as the farmers have already made the Inter- 
national Stock Food Co. a nice thing by using their powders; in 
fact, they sport the finest buildings in the country and the fast- 
est harness horse in the world. Now let us try the Iowa Stock 
Powders for a while, as their prices are reasonable. 



Do You Feed Your Stock Eller's 

Highly Medicated Stocl< 

Food? 

Which Is the greatest health promoter and flesh forcer known, will 
cause stock to take on that high finish which Is so much sought after, makes 
cows give more and richer milk. Horses will do more work on one-third 
less feed. It Is an appetizer, digester and tonic. 

We own ard control the only positive cure and preventative of cholera 
both In swine and poultry known through the land as the German Swine 
and Poultry Powders. We also manufacture the following goods: 
Eller's Worm Powders, filler's Death to Lice, Eller's Liquid Lice Killer, 
E-So Stock Dip (one gallon of this liquid makes 100 gallons of dip). Poller's 
Roup and Cholera Remedy (put a small quantity In the drinking water 
and the fowls cure themselves). Colic Cure, Spavin Cure, Liniments, Oint- 
ment, Salves, etc. 

Wholesale and retail jobbers in Poultry Supplies and Commercial 
Feeds. We extend to you a cordial invitation to visit us when in the city. 
Send for Illustrated catalogue. 

The German Swine & Poultry Merc. Co., 

TOPEKA, KANSAS 
yvn. F. WEBER. Pres. r r - ? LQN ELLBR, Sec.-Treas. 



I e kg '09 



Wabaunsee 

County 

Folks 

1907 



PRICE, $1.00. 



Seven Years Ago 



We opened the smallest Clothing store in Topeka 
with less than four thousand dollars' worth of mer- 
chandise on six tables — with one clerk at $3.50 per 
week, in our employ — with seventeen competitors in 
the same line of business all claiming to carry stocks 
ranging from $10,000 to $75,000— all claim.ing to 
sell goods at cost, and usually less than cost. In the 
face of all this we passed them all in volume of 
business before we were four years old. 



Our Remarkable Growth 



Has become the subject of comment in Commercial 
circles from New York to the Pacific Coast and we 
are given credit for having built, in a short period 
of time, the most prenomenal clothing business in 
America, and this, too, by operating along strictly 
legitimate lines, with never a "sale," never a cut 
price, no slaughters, no sacrifices, no fakes, no 
grafts, no bunco methods, — simply standing pledged 
to give "a dollar's worth for a dollar," and we enjoy 
a patronage that has flocked to us faster than we 
have been able to take care of it. 



WATCH OUR BUSINESS METHODS WIN 




^^OTHiE"-'*^ 701-703 Kansas Avenue 



We Carry 



At all times a complete line of Boy's Knee Pant 
Suits, ages 3 to IG years. Prices $1.50 to $7.50, 



Youth's Suits 



made in the latest style, all the popular shades; also 
blue and black. Ages 13 to 18 years. Prices $4 to 

$15. 



Mens' Suits 



The lai-gest assortment of high-class clothing shown 
in Kansas. Suits and Overcoats by the World's best 
makers. $7.50, $10, $12.50, $15, $18, $20, $22.50, 
$25. 

Every item fully guaranteed by us. No fakes. No grafts. 
No "Jew methods" in this store. The only American clothing 
store in Topeka. The fastest growing clothing store in Kansas. 
Mail orders promptly filled. 



WATCH US GROW 



WATCH OUR BUSINESS METHODS WIN 




»Thl 



^ Emahizer=Spielman 
Furniture Company 

The largest Retail and Wholesale House Furnishing Com- 
pany in the State of Kansas. 68,000 feet of floor space in retail 
department; 50,000 feet of floor space in wholesale warerooms. 
If we have no dealer in your city, we will give you the benefit 
of jobbers' prices. Furniture, Carpets, Rugs, Draperies, Stoves, 
Sewing Machines, Talking Machines, Pianos, Records. We pay 
freight to your depot. 

We handle the Chickering & Son, Everett, Decker & Son, 
McPhail, Crown, Melville A. Clark, Hobart M. Cable, Straube, 
Hammond and Harvard Pianos. We handle so many lines we 
can save you one-third on a Piano. Write us for catalogue and 
prices. 

We are jobbers and retailers 
of the Victor and Zona-Phone 
talking Machine and records. 
Talking Machines from $20.00 
up to $75.00. Records 60c. We 
will make you our agent and 
you can sell these machines or 
we will sell you for your own 
use. You can hear any of the 
fine musicians or singers or any 
band in your own home. This 
will help you to spend every 
night with the finest artists in 
the land. Over $1,700,000 
worth of Talking Machines 
sold last year. 

Write us for catalogue, 
prices and terms. Will extend 
time if desired. Better than 
any musical instrument for it 
plays them all. Every home 

has one or wants. Write for prices today. Come in and hear 
them FREE when in the city. 




517-519 Kansas Avenue /. 518-520 Jackson Street 
Topeka, Kansas 










UBBABVOFCONGRESS 




016 089 300 A* 




